Limerick 0-11 Kildare 1-11: The marksmanship of John Doyle played a substantial role in putting Kildare into the third round qualifier draw but Kieran McGeeney's debut season as an inter-county manager only survives, for at least another week, after a second-half meltdown by the hosts.
Doyle registered 1-6 with his goal on 58 minutes finally turning the tide Kildare's way after trailing since the 15th minute against a Limerick side that produced the shock of the championship in beating Meath last week.
Limerick were poised to become the football story of this summer but considering they dominated territory and possession, readily assisted by some deplorable Kildare defending, in the opening 35 minutes, they really should have been well clear. Instead, they only led 0-8 to 0-5.
John Galvin's dominance in midfield saw Killian Brennan called ashore at the break while some of the tracking back by Kildare players left a lot to be desired - it certainly didn't have any of the hallmarks of their manager's approach to the game as a player.
The Armagh native has realised the difficulties of adapting Ulster ways to Leinster football and Kildare played a familiar man on man game last night. After defeat to Wicklow on May 18th and trailing at the interval, the 2002 All-Ireland winning captain looked certain to end his first season as a manager in failure.
However, the Kildare players dug deep with the introduction of Michael Conway and Gary White improving the scoring return - Conway pulled matters back to a point on 55 minutes before an error by Limerick midfielder Jim Donovan led directly to Doyle's goal three minutes later.
Ian Ryan replied with a fine free from near the side line - the 19 year old prodigy had a poor game by his standards - registering 0-5 from frees but also kicking five wides. But an excellent Doyle point followed up by White put a goal between the sides entering injury-time.
Limerick came again but some heroic defending by Dermot Early and Kevin O'Neill repelled the desperate late rally by Mickey Ned O'Sullivan's men. The Kerry native was unwilling to make an immediate decision on his future in the aftermath but his three-year term as Limerick manager is now over.