Maguiresbridge 2-12 Tempo 0-14

It was a must win game for both teams on Sunday afternoon, in Rosslea. For the winner, another chance lay in wait to secure Division One status but for the loser it was automatic relegation. 
Both sides struggled all season in the league and going into the game it was Tempo who may have been feeling more confident given their recent Intermediate championship semi-final victory over Maguiresbridge.
However, it was Niall Jackman’s side who used the pain of defeat to their advantage as they overcame Tempo to earn a place in this weekend’s play-off against Devenish.
“It didn’t take much to get the boys motivated. We had big aspirations of winning the championship this year but we were poor against Tempo that day. 
“We felt we owed them one and we are just delighted to get over it. It’s only half the job done though, it will mean nothing unless we beat Devenish,” warns Jackman.
Maguiresbridge enjoyed the perfect start on Sunday afternoon, two goals in the first seven minutes catapulted them into the lead. The first came after two minutes when a good move up field fell to Daniel Teague and he made no mistake, unleashing his shot into the corner of the net.
Minutes later they got their second, after Tempo were turned over in attack. 
The ball was moved swiftly up the pitch and Ryan Hyde made a run from the 45 metre line before blasting to the back of the net. 
A goal which Tempo Manager, Sean Breen was not all too happy about:
“Damien (Kelly) was on the attack and he was through one-on-one with the keeper but a defender pushed him in the back, it was a blatant penalty. Instead of us getting a goal, or a goal from a penalty, they went up the field and got their goal. 
“It was early in the game and meant a six point turn around, who knows what would have happened if we’d gotten the goal.”
Despite the poor Tempo start, they got back into the game and landed ten points in the first half. Damien Kelly, Aidan Breen and Brian Jackson among the scorers. Maguiresbridge managed three more scores from Matthew Teague, Sean Corrigan and Rory Porteous in what was a disappointing 20 minutes from them.
“After the perfect start, as often happens we sat back and let Tempo back into the game. We had plenty of possession but went for goals in the early stages when we should have taken our points” said Jackman.
At the break they found themselves trailing by a point, on a score line of 0-10 to 2-03. In the second half the message was take your points from the Maguiresbridge manager. The loss of Aidan Breen at the end of the first half to a groin injury had a massive bearing on the game. Breen had been having a big say in the middle of the field but his withdrawal from the contest gave Ryan Hyde the freedom of the park in the second half.
Both teams were dealt black cards, Maguiresbridge losing wing half back Mark Gavin early in the second half while Tempo lost Niall McCusker and Ryan Ingram. Maguiresbridge started to dominate and picked off points through Ryan Hyde, Daniel Teague, Sean Corrigan and Matthew Teague.
Tempo struggled without Breen and could only muster four points in the second half which resigned them to division two football next season.
“We always knew we were going to finish at this end of the division but you always hold out hope that you’ll survive. When you look back though, we deserve to be relegated. Any team that gets four points deserves to go down, the play-off system is a farce to be honest. The team that finishes bottom deserves to go down.”
For Maguiresbridge, their fate will be decided this weekend when they play Devenish. Jackman will have to prepare without Niall Carson who went off with a shoulder injury on Sunday. How the game plays out is hard to predict he says.
“It’s going to be very tough. We both handed each other a couple of pastings this year but on recent form they had a better finish to the league campaign. We know we are good enough but it’s all on the day” concludes Jackman.