Limerick bristled with intent in the opening exchanges, scoring two fine points, before Kildare realised that there was a little more required in assuring victory than merely turning up for yesterday's clash at Newbridge.
Once the home side embraced the task in hand with purpose and conviction, there was no doubt as to the eventual outcome: the only contentious issue among the 2,500 crowd, the final tally. Limerick's discomfort could have been more acute were it not for some lack-lustre and wayward shooting by the Kildare forwards, who amassed 13 wides.
Aside from the opening five minutes, Kildare dominated virtually every facet of play, from inspirational centre half back, Glen Ryan to accomplished corner forward Pauric Brennan, whose final tally of 1-2 undersold his value to the team on the day.
Niall Buckley recovered from injury to take his place on the Newbridge sward and despite a couple of miscues was hugely influential around the middle of the pitch, shrewdly distributing possession broken to him by Killian Brennan.
While the forward line creaked initially, misplacing one pass after another, John Whelan, Declan Kerrigan, Brennan and Adrian McAndrew eventually found the range against an overworked Limerick rearguard.
But for the first five minutes it was the Kildare defence that was very much at odds with each other, guilty of huge over-elaboration, instead of simply clearing the ball, which could have cost them more than the two points they coughed up in that period.
New Limerick boss Paddy Mulvihill, who enjoyed his first NFL match in charge yesterday, will focus on several competent individual performances, most notably that of Damien Reidy who deputised for the absent John Quane at centrefield, Michael McMahon, Michael O'Donohue and Timmy Cummins.
Too often though, Mulvihill could only watch in frustration as his side were drawn into cluttered corridors of players, cramping each other's space and completely overplaying possession: Kildare's generally more direct football should have underlined to the visitors the value of quick, early ball to the full forward line.
Points by O'Donoghue and Sean Aherne merely galvanised Kildare, who replied by scoring 1-5 in 14 minutes, the goal coming from Whelan's intelligent pass and Brennan's neat dummy and accurate finish. To their credit Limerick finished the half with another brace of points and then shocked the home support when Fergal Finnan bravely finished to the net 45 seconds after the re-start.
Despite the fact that Limerick now trailed by just a single point, one never sensed even a hint of an upset. This was justified by Kildare's reaction, firing over seven points in succession before their opponents next mustered an attack of note.
The home side finished strongly and were in no way flattered by substitute Barry Quinn's injury time goal which brought a fittingly upbeat finish to an enjoyable afternoon for all those involved in Kildare football.
