There was more riding on this one than normally expected of a first round League game and it lived up to the billing.
As fate would have it, the return of Jack O'Connor to a packed St Conleth's Park after his two-year residency abruptly finished up last September coincided with the arrival of Glenn Ryan as the hoped-for born and bred Kildare saviour, and with a stellar backroom team with him.
In the end, the sides shared the spoils but it was the Lilywhites who left Newbridge with their heads held high following Jimmy Hyland's ice-cool injury time free to level it up.
Having failed to win a point when they were last in the top tier in 2018, progress is being made by Kildare.
Meanwhile Kerry, and O'Connor in particular, departed down the N7 with plenty of questions to answer.
A three-point return in the second half spoke volumes of the defending of Kildare's Mick O'Grady, Ryan Houlihan, Shea Ryan, Jack Sargent and Tony Archbold but it also puts a spotlight on Kerry's vaunted attack.
O'Connor will want answers by the time Dublin - hungry for an opening win after the opening home loss to Armagh - roll into Tralee on Saturday night.
Kerry started with nine of the side that lined out against Tyrone in last year's All-Ireland semi-final defeat, so O'Connor will be disappointed with this performance.
Still waiting to hear from Stefan Okunbor after reports that he had seriously injured his shoulder playing for his club Na Gaeil on Saturday, O'Connor had hoped to enjoy a winning return his former stomping ground to begin a three-in-a-row League bid.
Instead, he watched his side cough up a five point lead they had rightly earned early in the second half.
Kildare, the team O'Connor had guided back to Division 1, stormed back and Jimmy Hyland kept his nerve to convert a 72nd minute free and earn his team a share of the spoils.
The Lilywhites deserved it for their efforts as, inspired by skipper O'Grady's performance on David Clifford - restricted to two first half points - they defended superbly in the second half and countered effectively, with half-time sub Rory Feely also making a real difference.
And things are going to get even more interesting for O'Connor, who will be without Okunbor for the forseeable future due to a suspected dislocated shoulder but could have his Na Gaeil colleagues Jack Barry, Andrew Barry and Diarmuid O’Connor back for next weekend.
O'Connor will be hoping they answer his call because Dublin, who are hungry to get points on the board after their opening home defeat to Armagh, are rolling into Tralee on Saturday night.
"It was always going to be a big game with Dublin coming to town," grinned O'Connor, who had watched Armagh's Croke Park victory the night before.
"Both sides will be looking to improve from our first outing.
"Look, Kerry-Dublin are always big games. We have a bit of work to do obviously, Dublin had 14 or 15 wides which is very uncharacteristic.
"I wasn't overly surprised. Dublin are missing a good share of players. When they get those back, they’ll be a different proposition.
"Both teams will be looking to improve - it just shows the pre-season tournaments are grand for getting a bit of fitness but this was the real world, those pre-season games are exhibition games.
"A different type of game but that's good for fellas there to experience that. You really see who the leaders are in a game like that when your back is to the wall."
Having said that, there were some mitigating circumstances for the second half performance that he will take into account.
The Kingdom were without their first-choice midfield - David Moran would certainly have made a difference when Kerry needed someone to get on the ball and make things happen in the second half.
And certainly Kerry were a different team when Gavin White was forced off with a hamstring injury in the 27th minute as a result of Ben McCormack's tackle from behind.
Before that, White had played a starring role for the Kingdom as a marauding figure down the left flank.
He provided the assist for the game's only goal that was scored by Killian Spillane to put his side ahead, killing Kildare's early momentum and wiping out their early lead courtesy of points from Paul Cribbin and Kevin Flynn.
"We’re down anything up to seven or eight players," said O'Connor. "We think we’ll improve when we have the full panel back.
"This game will bring us on. This was a real game. This was a huge game for Kildare.
"They were never going to be an easy nut to crack. Glenn Ryan is a legend up here and they were all going to row in behind them.
"They’ve an awful lot of work done and that could be seen near the end."
Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email alerts
