The reigning champions lost Daniel Goulding to an ankle injury but goals from Donncha O’Connor (11 minutes) and Fintan Goold (24) set them on their way.

A brace of points each from Down’s Martin Clarke and Benny Coulter pared the gap back to 2-8 to 0-9 at half-time.

But Clarke was sent-off in a disappointingly one-sided second half, leaving man-of-the-match O’Connor (1-7) to play a starring role in front of 31,072 spectators.

The 12-point victory was a statement of Cork’s hunger to hold onto the Sam Maguire Cup, while Down’s revenge mission was grounded by a poor second 35 minutes.

Cork captain Graham Canty was alleged to have failed a late fitness test, so Michael Shields took on the captaincy for the white-shirted Rebels and filled in at full-back.

In a reshuffled full-back line Shields was flanked by dual player Eoin Cadogan and Eoin Cotter, who came in for Jamie O’Sullivan and Canty.

It was their defensive colleague Paudie Kissane who curled over the first point, after breaking onto a hand pass from Paul Kerrigan.

All-Star forward Danny Hughes was a late addition to the Down side, at the expense of Liam Doyle, who had been nursing a hamstring injury.

It was a defender who got an ‘all-black’ Down off the mark. Wing back Conor Garvey split the posts before Clarke, who was marked tightly by Noel O’Leary, kicked them in front.

Pearse O’Neill powered through the heart of the Down defence in the third minute and his stinging shot was acrobatically tipped over the crossbar by Brendan McVeigh.

Cork restored their lead courtesy of a free from Daniel Goulding and it was the Éire Óg clubman who cut the Down rearguard open for the game’s first goal.

Goulding’s brilliantly-weighted pass from close to the left sideline played in O’Connor, who reached it ahead of his marker Gerard McCartan, and goalkeeper McVeigh had little chance of saving the shot from point blank range.

A crisp interchange between the Down forwards set up Coulter for their first point in ten minutes, and Conor Maginn soon cut the gap to 1-3 to 0-4.

Both defences were struggling to keep tabs on the forwards, Cork’s hard work around the middle creating scores for Goold and Paddy Kelly, who drove forward on the right.

The Down attack then took over for the next five minutes. Hughes shrugged off Aidan Walsh to point from the right and Mark Poland followed him onto the scoresheet, with Coulter once again central to an intricate move.

Coulter doubled his tally in the 19th minute, profiting from two deft passes, and suddenly Cork’s advantage had been whittled down to 1-5 to 0-7.

They also had to cope with the loss of free-taker Goulding through injury. He limped off with an injured right ankle, and U-21 player Barry O’Driscoll was sent on in his place.

O’Connor steadied Conor Counihan’s men with a close range free and even better followed two minutes later. Kelly provided the assist for an unmarked Goold to side-foot a classy finish into the bottom right corner of the net.

Coulter’s influence was slightly negated by Cork’s deployment of a sweeper. But he got free to combine in a promising attack with Kevin McKernan, who was brought down by a trip from Shields.

Clarke converted the resulting free, yet O’Connor responded from play at the other end to make it 2-7 to 0-8 to the beaten Munster finalists.

An opportunist score from Kerrigan gave them a two-goal lead as Down introduced Peter Fitzpatrick for a yellow-carded Kalum King.

The all-action McKernan raided forward to grab Down’s ninth point of the encounter, putting five between the sides at the break.

Clarke clipped over a free to leave the scoreline at 2-8 to 0-10, just seconds after the restart, and Cork stopper Alan Quirke stood up well to parry a high, rasping shot from Fitzpatrick.

Donncha O’Connor took his tally to 1-3 before Hughes was called ashore, with McCartan looking to teenager Caolan Mooney to provide a spark.

Cadogan sprinted downfield to create another point for O’Connor who slotted over from the right and re-established the two-goal difference.

A confident O’Connor swung over a terrific free in the 45th minute. Just moments later, Down fans rose to acclaim the inspirational Ambrose Rogers who was making his first competitive appearance for the side since last year’s All-Ireland quarter-final win over Kerry.

But the game looked to be slipping away from Down when Goold and Kerrigan strung together further points, leaving the Ulster outfit 2-13 to 0-10 adrift.

The in-form Kerrigan nabbed his third point from play shortly afterwards, and a bandaged O’Leary then made way for Canty.

The Down defenders were being exposed time and again, their loose marking allowing Cork to canter clear on the scoreboard. The loss off Goulding, such a key forward for the Rebels, was lessened by O’Connor’s sharpshooting.

He landed another free before substitute Paul McComiskey ended Down’s barren spell with a quick brace.

But they were effectively out for the count when Clarke earned his second yellow card for an off-the-ball offence. Referee Michael Duffy made the decision after consulting with his umpires.

Cork showed no signs of easing off as Canty, with a fisted effort, and strong-running midfielder Walsh stretched the lead to 2-17 to 0-12.

Rogers drove a goal-scoring opportunity over the bar for James McCartan’s charges, and Conor Laverty also claimed a late point.

But nothing could take the shine off Cork’s storming display, the closing points arriving from an off balance Miskella, the tireless Kelly and top scorer O’Connor.

Scorers:

Cork: Donncha O’Connor 1-7 (0-4f), Fintan Goold 1-2, Paul Kerrigan 0-3, Paddy Kelly 0-2, Daniel Goulding (0-1f), Paudie Kissane, Pearse O’Neill, Graham Canty, Aidan Walsh, John Miskella 0-1 each

Down: Martin Clarke 0-3 (0-2f), Benny Coulter, Paul McComiskey 0-2 each, Conor Garvey, Conor Maginn, Danny Hughes, Mark Poland, Kevin McKernan, Ambrose Rogers, Conor Laverty 0-1 each

CORK: Alan Quirke; Eoin Cadogan, Michael Shields (capt), Eoin Cotter; Noel O'Leary, John Miskella, Paudie Kissane; Alan O'Connor, Aidan Walsh; Fintan Goold, Paddy Kelly, Pearse O'Neill; Daniel Goulding, Donncha O'Connor, Paul Kerrigan.

Subs used: Denis O’Sullivan for O’Leary (5-11 mins, blood sub), Barry O’Driscoll for Goulding (20), Fiachra Lynch for O’Driscoll (29), Graham Canty for O’Leary (51), Mark Collins for Walsh (60), Ray Carey for Cadogan (63).

DOWN: Brendan McVeigh; Aidan Branagan, Dan Gordon, Gerard McCartan; Declan Rooney, Kevin McKernan, Conor Garvey; Kalum King, Anton McArdle; Danny Hughes, Mark Poland, Conor Maginn; Conor Laverty, Benny Coulter (capt), Martin Clarke.

Subs used: Peter Fitzpatrick for King (35 mins), Caolan Mooney for Hughes (42), Ambrose Rogers for McArdle (46), Darren O’Hagan for Branagan (49), Paul McComiskey for Maginn (54).

Referee: Michael Duffy (Sligo)