By John Fogarty
Cork 1-27 Dublin 2-23
Seamus Harnedy's injury-time point put Cork ahead for only the second time in this riveting semi-final - but it was enough to secure the county their first league final since 2012.
Cork were 12 behind at one stage in the first half but thanks in no small part to Patrick Horgan and his 17 points they rallied to pull off a most satisfying win.
Dublin will rue their 15 wides - nine of them in the second half - and a contentious decision by James Owens not to award Mark Schutte a free in injury-time, which might have seen them advance.
Horgan was Cork's only scorer between the 32nd and 57th minutes as his free-taking kept his side involved and at that point they were seven in arrears.
Substitute Paudie O'Sullivan's 64th minute goal cut the margin to three and three scores without reply in the last three minutes of normal time brought them level before Harnedy sent over the winner.
As early as the 12th minute came confirmation Dublin were not going to lie down as readily as they did when the sides met in Croke Park last month. By that stage, they were seven points to the good and in complete control of the game.
Granted, they had the benefit of the wind but it couldn't legislate for just how dominant they were. Cork's half-back line was being pulled out of position routinely and Dublin's half-backs and midfield were finding holes to punch.
Dublin goaled in the second minute when Mark Schutte collected a ball inside from Liam Rushe and he turned and stroked the ball past Anthony Nash.
Dublin's second goal might well have been a penalty had David O'Callaghan not found the corner of the net as he appeared to be impinged illegitimately as he made a bee-line for the Cork goal.
The score put Dublin 12 up in what was turning into a reversal of the counties' last outing but a hat-trick of frees from Horgan gave Cork some impetus and they almost netted themselves on the half-hour mark when Harnedy was blocked by Shane Durkan.
Horgan stuck over the resultant 65 and the margin had been reduced to eight but points from Paul Ryan, a late replacement for Danny Sutcliffe, after Peter Kelly denied another Cork goal chance and O'Callaghan consolidated Dublin's advantage and they ended the half 2-15 to 0-12 ahead.
Scorers for Cork: P Horgan (0-17, 12 frees, 2 65s); C Lehane (0-4); P O'Sullivan (1-0); S Harnedy (0-3); L O'Farrell, A Cadogan, A Walsh (0-1 each).
Scorers for Dublin: P Ryan (0-7, 4 frees); M Schutte, D O'Callaghan (1-3 each); L Rushe (0-3); C Keaney, J McCaffrey, D Treacy (0-2 each); B Quinn (0-1).
CORK: A Nash; S O'Neill, D Cahalane, W Kearney; L McLoughlin, A Walsh, S McDonnell; D Kearney, R O'Shea; C Lehane, S Harnedy, B Cooper; A Cadogan, L O'Farrell, P Horgan.
Subs for Cork: B Lawton for S Harnedy (blood, 14-16); P O'Sullivan for A Cadogan (51); A Spillane for L O'Farrell (63); B Lawton for D Kearney (67).
DUBLIN: G Maguire; C O'Callaghan, P Kelly, P Schutte; S Durkin, C Crummey, C Keaney; J McCaffrey, N McMorrow; R O'Dwyer, L Rushe, P Ryan; D O'Callaghan, M Schutte, D Treacy.
Subs for Dublin: B Quinn for J McCaffrey (54); C Cronin for R O'Dwyer (62); O O'Rourke for D Treacy (67).
Referee: J Owens (Wexford).