Kildare were crowned Allianz Football League Division Two champions with a whirlwind finish at Croke Park which earned a 0-16 to 0-11 victory over Tyrone.
Three Mikey Conway frees, along with scores from Johnny Doyle and James Kavanagh, helped Kildare to a 0-7 to 0-6 interval lead, with Owen Mulligan and Mark Donnelly hitting two each for Tyrone.
Tyrone led with 10 minutes to play, but seven late points, three of them from substitute Padraig Fogarty, carried the rampant Lilywhites to triumph. Conway finished with a six points haul.
A 10-day training camp in Portugal appears to have done the trick for the Leinster men, but manager Kieran McGeeney insisted afterwards that his side will not be judged until the summer.
Johnny Doyle swept over a sweet opening point for Kildare, before Eoghain O’Flaherty doubled the lead from a free.
But the sides were level by the ninth minute after Owen Mulligan hit two points, one of them a free.
Kildare struggled to put away the chances they created, and while Mikey Conway did steer a difficult free between the posts, they found themselves behind for the first time in the15th minute.
Mark Donnelly popped over a point and then turned provider for Niall McKenna to make it 0-4 to 0-3.
Kildare forced a series of turnovers to frustrate the Ulster men, turning defence to attack at pace.
Tomas O’Connor’s offload sent James Kavanagh in for a point, and another Conway free had the sides level for the fourth time in the 29th minute.
Tyrone were flooding bodies back to the defensive effort, but that didn’t prevent the Lilywhites from finishing the half strongly, with Conway and Connor hitting the points that gave them a two-point lead.
A lengthy delay caused by an injury to Tyrone defender Aidan McCrory extended the first half to almost 49 minutes, and in the dying moments Stephen O’Neill converted a free to make it 0-7 to 0-6 in Kildare’s favour.
Tyrone, now facing into a stiff breeze, adopted a short game, and it paid off when Mulligan converted two frees, while Kildare’s long-range shooting let them down until Eoghan O’Flaherty drilled a ’45 between the posts on 48 minutes.
The sides were level for the seventh time when Conway converted his fourth free, and when substitute Padraig Fogarty thumped over his second point - even better than his first - Kildare were back in front.
Conway and Eamon Callaghan, with a monster effort, added to the account, and Fogarty rose to the occasion again with another superlative effort as the Lilywhites hit seven in the space of 10 minutes to seal the title.
Kildare scorers: M Conway 0-5 (4f), P Fogarty, E O’Flaherty (2f, 1 ’45) 0-3 each, J Doyle 0-2 (1 s/l), E Callaghan, T O’Connor, J Kavanagh 0-1 each.
Tyrone scorers: O Mulligan 0-4 (3f), S O’Neill 0-3 (2f), M Donnelly 0-2, N McKenna, S Cavanagh 0-1 each.
Tyrone: J Curran, A McCrory, C Gormley, PJ Quinn, C McCarron, P Harte, D McCaul, A Cassidy, C Cavanagh, R McNabb, M Donnelly, S Cavanagh, O Mulligan, N McKenna, Stephen O’Neill.
Subs: J McMahon for McCrory, Sean O’Neill for McCaul, M Penrose for McKenna, M Murphy for C Cavanagh
Kildare: S Connolly, P Kelly, H McGrillen, O Lyons, E Bolton, M O’Flaherty, E Callaghan, M Foley, P O’Neill, E O’Flaherty, M Conway, J Doyle, A Smith, T O’Connor, J Kavanagh.
Subs: P Fogarty for Smith, D Flynn for Foley
Referee: D Coldrick (Meath).
