Goulding lays down amarker for Cork

But their propensity for inviting opponents to 'stay in touch' was once again apparent in this title decider as they failed to cash in on their undoubted superiority.

Had Cork won this game by a double-figure digit it wouldn't have come as a surprise given the paucity of Monaghan's display, which was, in their own words afterwards, "unacceptable".

In fact the game should have been out of sight after 20 minutes as Cork poured through gaping fissures in a Monaghan defence that struggled to contain the pace and athleticism of their opponents.

But Cork's habit of drifting in and out of games, so evident in their recent history with neighbours Kerry and even Kildare in last year's All-Ireland quarter-final, leaves them vulnerable.

Exhilarating

Monaghan were never going to win this final from the moment Paul Kerrigan left Damien Freeman for dead for the opening point with an exhilarating 60-metre dash after only 90 seconds, prompting one of the quickest positional switches in recent memory.

Their reluctance, or perhaps inability, to put a team to the sword in a meaningful way and clock up the kind of scoreline their monopoly on play may have merited is something they need to address however.

After establishing a six-point interval lead that should have been much more, they allowed Monaghan to ghost to within three points again in the third quarter.

Cork manager Conor Counihan expressed disappointment with the absence of real cutting edge to this fixture, something he couldn't have bargained for when the sides met in Monaghan just a few weeks ago.

And with just over 30 frees awarded it was easy to see where he was coming from. There was an odd reckless challenge but a fear of executing real, meaningful tackles was evident here. Maybe it was the lack of atmosphere or perhaps the conditioning of the spring experiment, but that's not the legacy the lawmakers were hoping to leave surely?

This won't have resolved any major selection issues for Counihan and his back-room team but it will fortify a few facts, chiefly that Daniel Goulding has to become and remain the chief focus of their attacking plans.

Goulding finished with five points, four from play, and left no-one in doubt that with the right supply he could develop into the prolific marksman this Cork team requires to move to the next level.

Elsewhere they ticked many boxes and if they can afford to continue deploying Graham Canty at centre-back, where he can influence as much attacking momentum as defensive nous as he did here, it will serve the team better.

Tommy Freeman survived on scraps and landed three points from play but his overall influence was blunted by Anthony Lynch's experience, while Ray Carey's progression was enhanced by his first Croke Park experience.

Monaghan looked leg-heavy, like a team in the midst of intense championship training, but it wasn't offered as an excuse afterwards as they dissected the performance with a brutal honesty.

They've been back to the same well of players so often it's inevitable that there'll be days like this when they are, quite simply, flat.

Paul Finlay and Freeman gave them a pulse in the second half with welcome scores, and Dick Clerkin gave everything, but if Monaghan have used the League to raise the standard of their squad it wasn't evident here.

Canty and Ger Spillane were perpetual motion coming from deep and Cork always seemed to have an overlap in those opening 20 minutes.

More composure could have yielded goals with midfielder Alan O'Connor spurning a great chance after neat approach work involving Kelly on 20 minutes.

Canty steadied matters with a point on the run on 21 minutes and Ger Spillane could have been more ambitious when he made it 0-8 to 0-2 four minutes later.

Monaghan had their own spurned goal chance to regret when Mark Downey opted to shoot and draw a fine save from Alan Quirke on 30 minutes with Clerkin unmarked and screaming for a pass outside him.

Cork had every right to be disappointed with a 0-10 to 0-4 interval lead and when Freeman, with two, and Finlay reduced that advantage to half within 13 minutes of the restart, they looked decidedly edgy.

But they re-asserted themselves with the next three scores, Pierce O'Neill's impetus off the bench having a telling effect.

Monaghan closed to four but Kerrigan bookended his afternoon with another searing run to set up James Masters for the only goal as normal time elapsed.

Counihan has real options now with plenty of auxiliary forces on duty in next week's All-Ireland U-21 final to supplement a powerful squad.

Scorers -- Cork: D Goulding 0-5 (1f), J Masters 1-0, D O'Connor 0-3 (2f, '45), G Canty, G Spillane, P O'Neill, A O'Connor, P Kelly, P Kerrigan all 0-1 each. Monaghan: P Finlay (2f), T Freeman (1f) 0-4 each, C McManus 0-2 ('45), D McArdle, M Downey 0-1 each.

Cork -- A Quirke; R Carey, M Shields, A Lynch; N O'Leary, G Canty, G Spillane; A O'Connor, N Murphy; P O'Flynn, P Kelly, P Kerrigan; J Masters, D O'Connor, D Goulding. Subs: P O'Neill for O'Flynn (48), J Hayes for D O'Connor (50), F Goold for A O'Connor (68), J Miskella for Kelly (70), C McCarthy for Goulding (70).

Monaghan -- S Duffy; D Mone, V Corey, D McArdle; D Freeman, G McQuaid, D Hughes; D Clerkin, O Lennon; P Finlay, S Gollogly, C McManus; M Downey, R Woods, T Freeman. Subs: J P Mone for D Mone (27), R Ronaghan for Gollogly (h-t), C Hanratty for Lennon (48), G McEnaney for D Freeman (y/c 50), K Hughes for Downey (55), S McAleer for Woods (66).

Ref -- Syl Doyle (Wexford).