![\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/0023cb4a-614.jpg\"\/)
\nBrian Byrne of Kildare in action against Conn Kilpatrick<\/p>\n
Fourteen-man Kildare fought back to earn a draw as they held Tyrone at O’Neills Healy Park to mark their return to Division Two with a battling point.<\/p>\n
Following the dismissal of Brendan Gibbons ten minutes into the second half, the Lilywhites dug in with a heroic show or resistance to come close to stunning the Ulster giants.<\/p>\n
It was a stuttering start to Tyrone\u2019s mission to achieve an immediate return to Division One following last year\u2019s relegation, while their opponents, just up from the third tier, will be delighted with where they are.<\/p>\n
Brian McLoughlin was the Kildare saviour with a nine-point haul, including a late, late two-pointer to bring his side level, while Ethan Jordan made a dream league debut for Tyrone, finishing with a 1-9 haul.<\/p>\n
The game\u2019s opening two points were scored by league debutants, Jordan and Kildare\u2019s Eoin Cully, who stylishly cut inside to split the posts.<\/p>\n
Jordan edged the Red Hands two ahead with a two-point free, but Cully continued to cause problems with his pace, firing over a second gem, and denied another by Joey Clarke\u2019s diving block.<\/p>\n
The ball-winning qualities of Callum Bolton and Brendan Gibbons around the middle gave the Leinster men impetus, and with playmaker Alex Beirne growing into the game, they kept in touch with the home side through Brian McLoughlin.<\/p>\n
But a second two-pointer from Jordan, followed by a neat score from Ciaran Bogue, an All-Ireland Club JFC finalist with Clogher, had Tyrone four clear by the end of the opening quarter.<\/p>\n
But a rash of wides saw a spell of pressure come to nothing, while Ryan Burke, following a shaky opening, produced a couple of effective defensive plays to hold the Tyrone men at bay, helping them negotiate a sticky spell before countering to reel off scores through Beirne (2), McLoughlin and Kevin Feely, who drew the sides level on 29 minutes.<\/p>\n
\nBrian Byrne of Kildare in action against Conn Kilpatrick<\/p>\n
They went in front for the first time in first half stoppage time, Darragh Swords finishing to the net from close range following a goalmouth scramble to send the Lilywhites in with a 1-8 to 0-8 lead.<\/p>\n
Tyrone wasted no time in trimming the deficit through Jordan and substitute Eoin McElholm, but a trademark Callum Bolton two-pointer restored the three points cushion.<\/p>\n
The Red Hands were increasingly effective on the counter-attack, and raided for Cathal Donaghy to send Joe Oguz for a goal, planted clinically in the bottom corner of Cian Burke\u2019s net in the 44th minute as they eased back in front.<\/p>\n
Moments later the Lilywhites suffered a further blow, reduced to 14 men when midfielder Brendan Gibbons received a second yellow card.<\/p>\n
Jordan\u2019s evening took another positive turn as he fired over his third two-pointer, but again Kildare were able to find a response, Beirne also raising an orange flag from a long range free.<\/p>\n
Kildare continued to hold their own in the middle third, but the pressure mounted in the closing stages.<\/p>\n
Darragh Canavan came off the bench to slot over a couple of scores for a four points margin, the almost inevitable precursor to another Lily surge, as McLoughlin grabbed 0-3, bringing them level with a two-pointer with five minutes to play.<\/p>\n
But Jordan capped a dream debut by crashing home a goal straight from the kick-out. However it was not enough, with McLoughlin claiming 0-3 down the straight, including a brilliant two-pointer right at the death.<\/p>\n
Tyrone: N Morgan; C Quinn, A Clarke, J Clarke; B Cullen, M McKernan, R Cassidy (0-01); J Oguz (1-00), C Kilpatrick; C Donaghy, C Bogue (0-01), C Daly (0-01); M Conroy (0-01, f), M Donnelly, E Jordan (1-09, 2 tpf, 1f, 1 tp).<\/p>\n
Subs: B Kennedy for Bogue (h-t), E McElholm (0-01) for Conroy (h-t), D Canavan (0-02) for Donaghy (51), F Burns for Cassidy (67)<\/p>\n
Kildare: C Burke; L Kelly, P Spillane, R Burke; J Harris, E Lawlor, B Byrne; C Bolton (0-02, tp), B Gibbons; B McLoughlin (0-09, 3f, 2 tp), A Beirne (0-05, 1f, 1 tpf), D Swords (1-00); B Loakman, K Feely (0-01), E Cully (0-02).<\/p>\n
Subs: R Sinkey for Swords (h-t), C Moran for Harris (65), S Doran for Cully (68)<\/p>\n
Referee: N Cullen (Fermanagh).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fourteen-man Kildare fought back to earn a draw as they held Tyrone at O’Neills Healy Park to mark…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":262402,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,112],"class_list":{"0":"post-262401","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-ie","9":"tag-ireland","10":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=262401"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262401\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/262402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=262401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=262401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=262401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}