All square in Omagh
February 02, 2008
Tyrone started life without ace attacker Stephen O'Neill in Omagh last night and were denied an opening NFL win (0-7 to 1-4) by a last-minute goal by visitors Kildare.
Tyrone dominated matters territorially but wasted a lot of chances as they sought to secure a prized home win.
In the heavy conditions, both teams struggled to get any momentum going but a brace of points from Colm McCullagh and a point from Enda McGinley had the O'Neill County up and running.
Kildare were extremely sluggish early on and it wasn't until the 15th minute that they opened their account when John Doyle pointed a free.
Kildare improved with the relocation of Dermot Earley from full-forward to midfield and minutes later Earley's delivery set up Padraig Mularkey but his rasping shot flew over instead of under the bar.
The Lilywhites had two other goal chances but on each occasion, Sweeney and Doyle had their shots blocked by Tyrone full-back Conor Gormley.
Trailing by 0-3 to 0-5 at the start of the second half, Kildare came out with all guns blazing and only a fine intervention by Davy Harte prevented Earley from firing goalwards.
A point from Doyle narrowed the gap but another couple of heroic blocks from Gormley helped keep Tyrone's noses in front.
A scoreless period of 21 minutes then ensued before sub Owen Mulligan put Tommy McGuigan through for a fine point.
The game reached a dramatic conclusion when sub Alan Smith crossed from the right for Mullarkey to punch the ball to the net for a last gasp equaliser.
Tyrone - J Devine; PJ Quinn, C Gormley, M Swift; D Harte, D Carlin, P Jordan; K Hughes 0-1, E McGinley 0-1; C Cavanagh, R Mulgrew 0-1, R Mellon; C McCullagh 0-3, T McGuigan 0-1, S O'Neill. Subs - O Mulligan for Mellon, D McCaul for Quinn, N Gormley for Cavanagh.
Kildare - T Corley; E Bolton, A McLoughlin, M O'Flaherty; A Rainbow, K O'Neill, G White; P Mullarkey 1-1, K Brennan; J Doyle 0-3, M Conway, J Kavanagh; R Sweeney, D Earley, K Donnelly. Subs - A Smith for Sweeney, D Flynn for Donnelly.
Referee - V Neary (Mayo)
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