Maguiresbridge 1-11

St Patrick’s Donagh 2-06

In what was a proverbial four pointer it was Maguiresbridge who fought their way to a vital win that leaves their division one survival firmly in their own hands. St Patrick’s meanwhile will have to hope results go their way and that they defeat Belcoo in their last game.

Bridge manager, Niall Jackman was understandably delighted with his sides performance as they have now won both their games since division one was split in to two.

“We could not ask for any more to be honest. It was a really tough battle and both teams were very nervous and there was a lot of tension and I think to be honest that tension got to us because our performance levels were not where they have been.”

St Pat’s were to shoot both their goals in the first half but crucially were to score only three points after the break while the Bridge were to hit six points in the second half to seal victory.

It wasn’t until the final five minutes that a Rory Porteous long range effort brought about a situation where the Bridge started to look like the match winners. However Donagh did miss a few chances in this period that could have tied the game up.

"We were happy enough with our first half performance," said St. Pat's boss Fergal Wray. "Maguiresbridge had started well but I thought we looked threatening in the first half and we scored two cracking team goals although we conceded a goal and point by coughing up possession poorly. In the second half though Maguiresbridge were much more hungry around the middle of the pitch and they finished the game strongly. At this stage it will take a miracle for us to avoid relegation," he added.

The Bridge jumped into an early three point lead with Andrew Breslin, David Teague and Sean Corrigan all kicking points but St Pat’s wiped out that lead when a flowing move saw Ryan Kelly finish to the net to tie things up.

The home side came straight back with a goal of their own however with the impressive Ciaran Corrigan finishing well but this topsy turve game had another twist before the half time whistle. St Pat’s chipped over points through Pat Cadden and Brian McDermott and just before the break there was another goal for St Pat’s with the evergreen Eamon Maguire finishing to the net.

At half time the game was right in the balance but it was to be the home side who would go on and produce the better performance upon the resumption.

St Pats were well served by Joe Cadden and Johnny Reilly in defence and they certainly had their fair share of possession but the reality was that they failed to convert enough of their possession to win the game.

The Bridge on the other hand were the more slicker side in attack with and it was Sean Corrigan who would lead he way with some excellent points from play.

Donagh brought themselves back to all square with Cadden and Maguire getting points but the Bridge were not to be denied the win.

Porteous hit his wonder point before Daniel Teague won a hard earned free that was converted by Sean Corrigan.

The final whistle was greeted by delight by the home team as they gained another crucial two points on their path to what they hope will be survival.

Maguiresbridge were due to play Tempo this weekend but a late change to the fixture list saw them with a free weekend with a re-fixture of Tempo and Lisnaskea down for decision this week.

The Maguiresbridge manager, Niall Jackman was not pleased with the change;

“I just think it is really disrespectful to players. We have players who have already made arrangements to travel home from pretty far away and now the game has been changed and we have no match. It really isn’t on and I don’t mind saying it. I think more people should speak about it. The club players have not been treated well,” Jackman explained before adding;

“But we won’t let it effect us. We have our own safety in our hands and we will be keeping focused on that.”