Aughadrumsee and Belcoo is the final quarter final tie in the Kevin Courtney Car Sales & Garage Intermediate Championship on Sunday in Donagh, and this has the look of a tight encounter.

Both sides fell at the semi-final hurdle last year, and while the two sides will be keen to push on this year, the whole focus at this stage is trying to get through their quarter final tie.

For Aughadrumsee Manager Pat Cadden, the quarter final clash is crucial as the winner not only goes through to the last four, but they also avoid the dreaded relegation play-offs.

“I suppose the best way of looking at it is that it is near like a final for everybody, because if you lose that then you have the prospect of being relegated to Junior football – you are two games away from that – so the quarter final is a massive game for every club,” he said.

The Magpies caused something of a surprise last year when they deservedly defeated Devenish and, like last year, Cadden says progress this year is all about performing on the day.

“We got a great morale boost last year; we fancied our chances against Devenish because we were going so well and we performed on the day, and we are just hoping that we can perform on the day again this year.

“Belcoo are in the same division as us; we had a tight league game against them and we are expecting a 50/50 game again.”

And Cadden – who will join up with the new Fermanagh management team as goalkeeping coach – believes the weather could play a part on Sunday.

“The weather at the minute is pretty poor, so it will be about doing the basics well and taking the scoring opportunities at the right time. In championship football, goals are usually crucial, so the team that gets a goal won’t be far away from winning most games,” he added.

Belcoo had a change of manager midway through the season with Shane McCabe stepping down and Barry Hanrahan taking over, and they pushed hard for promotion, missing out on the final day. Hanrahan feels it was one that maybe got away.

“We were disappointed to miss out on promotion to Division One by such a fine margin. There’s very little between most of the teams in Division Two. We felt that we probably let that one slip through our hands,” he said.

However, he has been pleased with the effort of the players in training, and he stresses that they will just be concentrating on getting their own game right.

“Intensity at training has been good since the end of the league and all eyes are in the first round of the championship now.

“We focus more on ourselves rather than the opposition.

“We have a very good group of players and they have put a big effort in this year. We will go out and play to our potential and follow our own process. Hopefully, it will be good enough on the day to get us over the line,” he concluded.