WHILE they deserved better than to finish seven points in arrears, Cork could hardly quibble about the outcome of the All-Ireland intermediate hurling final at Thurles last Saturday night. It has to be acknowledged that Kilkenny were the better-balanced side, and the threat from their attack was certainly a bit more widespread, with five of their six starting forwards, as well as two of the substitutes, contributing to their tally of 2-11 from play over the hour.

By contrast, all but 1-4 of Cork's total came from placed balls, highlighting a lack of penetration in attack which ultimately proved their undoing. Victory earned Kilkenny a second title in three seasons, allowing them to avenge their comprehensive defeat at the hands of the Rebels in last year's decider.

Given that Cork were obliged to field a completely new team this year, this was always going to be a difficult assignment, but, to their credit, they didn't relinquish the crown easily, remaining in with a shout until corner-forward Alan Healy scored Kilkenny's second goal two minutes into stoppage time.

That came in reply to a fine individual goal from Cork's Colm Casey – who, along with Bill Cooper, made the biggest impact up front for the holders – which left just two points between the sides after 58 minutes. Cork didn't score again following Casey's strike, however, and their fate was sealed by the goal from Alan Healy, one of eight Kilkenny players on duty who shared in their All Ireland final win two years ago.

With such a rich vein of experience running through the team, the Cats were entitled to fancy their chances, especially since they had been very impressive en route to the decider, winning all three of their games by a minimum of nine points.

They got off to the best possible start, with full forward Philip Cleere grabbing a goal inside two minutes after Cork 'keeper Declan McCarthy had saved well initially from corner forward Michael Grace. They had stretched the gap to five points before Bill Cooper got Cork off the mark in the sixth minute, but they struggled to make headway up front as the first half progressed.

Indeed, after cornerback Kieran Mooney converted a long-range free to make it 1-3 to 0-2 in the eighth minute, Kilkenny went over 12 minutes without a score, and Cork had reeled off four points on the trot to hit the front in the meantime. Bill Cooper tied things up at 13 to 0-6 with a sublime point, and he was clearly making his presence felt on the '40, prompting Kilkenny to move midfielder Pat Hartley to centre-back for the second quarter.

That helped to restore stability to the No residers' rearguard, but not before Danny O'Callaghan inched Cork ahead with a pointed free from distance and Mark Harrington was presented with a great chance of a goal in the 17th minute. Latching on to a clearance by centreback Kevin Hartnett, Harrington found himself in a one-to-one situation with Kilkenny custodian Liam Tierney, but the latter produced a superb save to deny Cork a major boost.

Drawing inspiration from that let-off, Kilkenny responded with three quick points before Cork's Eoin Conway completed the first half scoring from a free to make 1-6 to 0-8 at the interval. In light of their sluggish start, Cork must have reasonably satisfied to go in at the break just a point in arrears, and they were back on terms after Eoin Conway slotted over a free inside 32 minutes.

Their recovery had been facilitated to a large extent by the strong play from half backs Tadgh Healy, Kevin Hartnett and Mark Ellis, while Michael Walsh, Cian Fogarty and Brendan Coleman, under pressure during the game's opening sequences, settled down well to form a solid full back line in front of dependable 'keeper Declan McCarthy.

With Danny O'Callaghan keeping the flag flying at midfield, Cork matched Kilkenny score for score during the third quarter, and they fluffed an opportunity to regain the lead midway through the second half when the otherwise unerring Eoin Conway was off-target from a free.

Significantly, however, Cork didn't raise a flag from play between the 26th and 56th minutes, and they had slipped five points adrift before Bill Cooper finally did the needful following good work by substitute John Halbert. Reduced to 14 players a minute earlier after an innocuous foul resulted in Kevin Hartnett being harshly issued with a second yellow card, it looked all up for Cork until Colm Casey threw them a lifeline.

Then the killer-blow arrived, courtesy of Alan Healy, who, with Cork 'keeper McCarthy opting to stay on his line, raced unchallenged on to a defence-splitting delivery from wing back Niall Doherty to fire home an unstoppable shot from the edge of the square.

A brace of late points by Bill Beckett embellished Kilkenny's victory which owed much to the efforts of Beckett, Healy and Michael Grace up front, Niall Walsh at midfield, and Pat Hartley when moved to centre back, not to mention Mark Phelan, Paul Murphy and Kieran Mooney, who rendered Cork's highly-rated inside line of attack almost completely redundant over the hour.

Scorers

KILKENNY: A Healy 1-4, 0-3 frees, B Beckett 0-4, 0-1 free, P Cleere 1-0, R Dollard and M Grace 0-2 each, K Mooney free, B Lennon, N Walsh, N Cleere free, and Noel Doherty 0-1 each

CORK: E Conway 0-7 frees, C Casey 1-1, B Cooper 0-3, D O'Callaghan 0-2 frees

KILKENNY: L Tierney, M Phelan, P Murphy, K Mooney, J Cottrell, R Cody, Niall Doherty, P Hartley, N Walsh, B Beckett, R Dollard, N Cleere, M Grace, P Cleere, A Healy Subs: B Lannon for Cody, Noel Doherty for N Cleere

CORK: D McCarthy (Ballymartle), M Walsh (Kildorrery), C Fogarty (Killeagh), B Coleman (Ballinhassig), T Healy (Buttevant), K Hartnett (Russell Rovers), M Ellis ( Millstreet), D O'Callaghan (Ballinhassig), B Fitzgerald (Douglas), B Corry (Ballymartle), B Cooper (Youghal), C Casey (Inniscarra), M Harrington (Douglas), E Conway (Fr O'Neill's), M O'Sullivan (Tracton). Subs: S Corry (Ballymartle) for Fitzgerald, B Lawton (Castlemartyr) for Conway, J Halbert (Watergrasshill) for O'Sullivan

REFEREE: A Kelly (Galway)

- Noel Horgan at Semple Stadium, Thurles