Kildare got their O'Byrne Cup campaign underway with a fully deserved six point victory over visitors Longford in Newbridge today.

The scoreboard read Kildare 1-15, Longford 0-12 at referee Barry Tiernan's final whistle and Niall Kelly scored the game's only goal in the 29th minute.

Cian O'Neill handed senior debuts to Sarsfields trio Shea Ryan, Ben McCormack and Conor Hartley and all three caught the eye.

Harley and McCormack kicked three points apiece while Fionn Dowling finished as the Eoin Doyle captained side's top scorer with 0-5 (4 frees).

Sean McCormack and Robbie Smyth, meanwhile, fired five points apiece for the midlanders.

Kelly's green flag separated the sides at the break - 1-7 to 0-7 - and the hosts pulled away after the resumption.

Another positive for Kildare supporters was the return of Sean Hurley to the Lilywhite jersey as a second-half substitute.

Kildare - M Donnellan; P Kelly, D Hyland, M O'Grady; S Ryan, E Doyle, J Byrne; T Moolick, F Dowling (0-5, 4f); F Conway (0-1), C Hartley (0-3), K Cribbin; N Flynn (0-3, 2f), N Kelly (1-0), B McCormack (0-3). Subs: O Lyons for J Byrne, E Heavey for K Cribbin, D Slattery for F Conway, P Connell for N Kelly, S Hurley for N Flynn.

Longford - P Collum (0-1'45); A Farrell, P McGee, C Farrelly; B Gilleran, P McCormack, B McKeon; D Gallagher, B O'Farrell; L Sullivan, R Smyth (0-5, 1f), D Masterson; M Hughes, L Connerton, S McCormack (0-5, 3f). Subs: P Kiernan for L Sullivan, J McGivney for D Masterson, G Rogers (0-1) for M Hughes, B Farrell for L Connerton, J Keegan for B McKeon.

Referee - B Tiernan.

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