During the first half the All Star midfielder was booked for dissent and although O'Loughlin made a meal of the challenge, by law Earley had to go.
The visitors also finished out the game a man in arrears when Rory O'Carroll, brother of Dublin st
ar Ross, was also shown a second yellow after he was reported for verbally abusing the linesman on the stand side of the ground.
Kieran McGeeney named a strong side for the year's opening fixture with eight of the 15 that started last year's Leinster final lining out.
Beginning his 18th season of inter county football Anthony Rainbow provided cover for long term absentee Mikey Conway at wing back, while there were also starts from Moorefield's David Whyte, Keith Cribbin, Willie Heffernan and Rob Kelly.
The latter put in a man of the match performance and indeed finished up as the Lilies's top scorer with eight points. Five of those came from frees after the Straffan man took over the free taking duties from Ronan Sweeney in the second half. New boys David Lyons and Ronan Walsh from Cappagh both got a run out as substitutes also.
There were both positives and negatives to take from the performance with the aforementioned showing from Kelly most definitely one of the highlights. However, the manner in which Kildare conceded a goal in 33rd minute was disappointing. Goalkeeper Tom Corley should have dealt with a ball sent in by Wexford star Ciaran Lyng but he came and he missed and Francis McGee duly punished the mistake.
At corner back Ellistown's Andrew McLoughlin had a poor opening half, while young Keith Cribbin really wasn't in the game that much. However, it's very early days indeed and judging McGeeney's side on one performance in January would be both harsh and silly.
Kildare started with a bang and had six points on the board before their opponents opened up their account. Early indications pointed to a facile victory for the home side and it was Ronan Sweeney, captain in the absence of Johnny Doyle, that got the scoring underway when he converted a free just a minute in.
The advantage was doubled a minute later when Rob Kelly got off the mark from play, while Dermot Earley (two), Sweeney (free) and Kelly again left the scoreboard reading 0-6 to 0-0 with eight minutes on the clock.
Longford man Francis McGee, who finished out the Students' top scorer, got the university side off the mark with a point from play and by the 17th minute UCD had it back to double scores (0-6 to 0-3).
By the 35th minute the visitors were back on level terms after they capitalised on a defensive error from the Lilies. A ball in from Ciaran Lyng should have been dealt with by Tom Corley, who rose to gather possession with Emmet Bolton, but the Moorefield net minder completely missed the ball and Francis McGee was on hand to shot in to the back of the empty net. This was followed up by a point from wing back Marc McGowan from Donegal and left the scoreboard reading 0-8 to 1-5.
It was the home side that led at the interlude though thanks to a converted free from Ronan Sweeney after a foul on full forward Willie Heffernan.
Kildare scored six points within the first eight minutes and looked likely to run riot, however that didn't continue and for the remainder there wasn't much between the teams but in truth UCD never really looked like winning it.
The home side drew first blood in the final half when Kelly tapped over a free and that was to set the tone for the remainder. All in all the Straffan man scored six points in the second half in what was a masterful performance.
By the midway point of the half Kildare led 0-12 to 1-5 and were looking comfortable. That could have been different had John O'Loughlin found the back on the net 23 minutes in to the half. A pass from substitute Tommy Warburton set O'Loughlin through on goal but Tom Corley made up for his earlier mistake with a fine save.
Late on UCD had it down to a point (1-11 to 0-15) but a stoppage time point from Ellistown's Ken Donnelly made sure of victory and set up a meeting with neighbours Laois in round two this weekend.
Scorers: Kildare – Rob Kelly 0-8 (5f), Ronan Sweeney 0-4 (4f), Dermot Earley 0-2, David Whyte 0-1, Ken Donnelly 0-1.
UCD – Francis McGee 1-4 (2f), Ciaran Lyng 0-3 (2f), David O'Connor 0-2 (1f), Marc McGowan 0-1, David O'Callaghan 0-1.
Kildare:
Tom Corley; Andrew McLoughlin, Gary White, Emmet Bolton; Morgan O'Flaherty, Mark Scanlon, Anthony Rainbow; Daryl Flynn, Dermot Earley; David Whyte, Rob Kelly, Keith Cribbin; Ken Donnelly, Willie Hef-fernan, Ronan Sweeney. Subs: Ronan Walsh replaced E Bolton 45 mins, David Lyons replaced A Rainbow 57 mins, Padraig O'Neill replaced D Whyte 62 mins.
UCD:
Michael Savage; Peter Kelly, Colm Forde, Michael Fitzsimons; Mark McGowan, Cian O'Sul-livan, Rory O'Carroll; Niall Corkery, Colm Murphy; Paul Kelly, Ross O'Carroll, Ciaran Lyng David O'Callaghan, Francis McGee, John O'Loughlin. Subs: John Fitzpatrick replaced Ross O'Carroll 42 mins, David O'Connor replaced C Murphy 45 mins, Tommy Warburton replaced P Kelly 49 mins, Daniel St Ledger replaced M McGowan 66 mins.
Referee
Fergal Kelly.
