A fine second half showing saw Tyrone open their Allianz Football League Division Two season with a well-earned 2-11 to 0-12 win over Kildare at Croke Park on Saturday.
Goals from Martin Penrose and Peter Harte were the difference as the Ulstermen beat Kieran McGeeney’s side, all in dark green, in front of a relatively small early evening crowd at GAA Headquarters.
The season curtain-raiser was reasonably slow to get going, with veteran Stephen O’Neill the first to split the posts as he beat Peter Kelly and put Tyrone, in red, ahead on three minutes.
Mikey Conway and Penrose then traded poor attempts from frees, allowing O’Neill to double his side’s lead but placed balls from Eoghan O'Flaherty and Conway, and a well-taken score from the overlapping Kelly, saw the Lilywhites 0-3 to 0-2 clear midway through the first half.
They then almost cut Tyrone open for a goal but, after being picked out in a seemingly lethal position by Tomas O’Connor, Padraig O'Neill cleared the bar and had to settle for a point. It was all beginning to go their way it has to be said as the next two moves of note saw Peter Hughes hook a Tyrone shot wide before Conway scored from a difficult angle for a three-point lead.
The long blonde hair of Owen Mulligan donned the head of the man who pulled back Tyrone’s third point after a softly-awarded free, but Conway’s reply had the men in dark green 0-6 to 0-3 in front at the break.
The first half had had one or two moments of class but it was hoped there was better to come and, certainly, the opening stages of the second 35 minutes proved to be all-action.
O’Neill missed early in the second half for Mickey Harte’s men, but quickly followed that up by reducing their arrears and soon they were in front thanks to the first Allianz Leagues goal of the season.
Peter Harte played a key part as he bombed forward down Tyrone’s left channel. The Kildare defence was rather stand-offish and that allowed Harte to pick out the previously ineffective Penrose, who punched over the head of Shane Connolly and into his net.
The evergreen Johnny Doyle, a first half substitute, levelled it up but fine scores from Mulligan and Ronan O’Neil had Tyrone two points clear for the first time since early in the game.
It remained end-to-end though. O’Neill curled in from a tight angle, followed by a match-levelling O’Flaherty ’45 and a beauty of a long-range free from Conway as Kildare reclaimed a lead that only lasted until corner back Damien McCaul got forward to make it Tyrone 1-7 Kildare 0-10.
The next move of note would be the key one. Veteran, and man-of-the-match, Mulligan rolled back the years to time a perfect pass to the onrushing Harte, who had bounded through the middle. He duly punched beyond Connolly for the O’Neill County’s second green flag of the day.
Old-stagers Mulligan and O’Neill (with two) moved Harte’s men clear before O’Neill blasted a great chance for a third Tyrone goal just the wrong side of the post. Conway’s double got some respite for the Lillies, but they were beaten by now and the introduction of Sean Cavanagh – after a serious shoulder injury – had the Tyrone fans who had travelled cheering even louder.
They cheered again when Eamonn Callaghan blasted a great Kildare goal chance off target as time ticked down, with Mark Donnelly’s last-gasp point sealing what was, in the end, an impressive start from Tyrone in this clash of the Division Two favourites.