Tempo 1-12 Irvinestown 0-13

A good second half display steered Tempo to the win in the sunshine on Saturday afternoon as they saw off Division Two champions Irvinestown.

The game was not without its controversy as the St. Molaise outfit had what appeared to be a good goal disallowed for a square ball in the first half while Tempo had a similar one allowed in the second and this ultimately proved decisive in the outcome as the Maguires secured a two point victory.

It was a decision that frustrated Irvinestown manager Francie Ward although he did not use it as an excuse for the loss.

“It was disappointing to have it disallowed given that Tempo had one the exact same that stood in the second half but in the end Tempo were ahead on the scoreboard and deserved to win.

“I felt we were flatter than we should have been and we missed enough chances to win the game,” he said.

They now have chance to put the result right when they face Lisnaskea at home on Saturday.

“I’ve spoken a lot about the character of this side this year and this will be a real test of that,” said Ward. “Both teams lost their opening game so it will be a ding-dong battle.

“It will be nice though to have a home championship game in Irvinestown and hopefully that will work in our favour but home advantage will mean nothing if we don’t stick to our principles and the gameplan.”

From a Tempo perspective, they were pleased to secure that opening win but defender Rory McCaffrey knows that they face another difficult assignment this Saturday when they travel to Donagh to face a St. Pat’s side who were the only team in either the Senior or Intermediate Championship that won away from home last weekend.

“We are happy to start off the championship with a win and we will be looking to build from that,” said McCaffrey.

“Donagh are a very talented outfit with plenty of pace and players that would cause any team problems.

“They are always hard to beat at home so it’s going to be another tough afternoon for us but one that we are looking forward to.”

Last Saturday’s encounter was evenly contested with the teams level at 0-02 apiece after 12 minutes. Tiarnan Bogue and Niall Fee registered for Tempo while Gary Maguire hit both the Irvinestown scores from frees.

This though was followed by the Irvinestown disallowed goal which was palmed home by Stephen Sheridan although Tiarnan Daly did fire over soon after to nudge Irvinestown in front.

Ryan Ingram tied things up for a third time with a good score from the right for Tempo but Irvinestown finished the half well as Ronan Ormsby and Maguire tagged on points to leave them 0-05 to 0-03 up at the interval.

Indeed, another Maguire point from a free put the away side three up early in the second half and it stayed that way after Bogue and James Duffy traded points.

The Maguires though started to get a grip on things and Eunan McCann landed two delightful points from the left hand side before Declan Owens fired over to level the tie at 0-07 to 0-07.

Ronan Ormsby put Irvinetown back ahead with a terrific point but Bogue replied from a free, and he did the same after Josh Largo Elis had added a point for Irvinestown.

A Bogue point from play then put Tempo ahead and this was followed by the decisive goal as Peter Rafferty broke forward and fed the ball across the goal to Oisin Murphy to palm in as the Maguires moved four ahead.

Another Maguire point cut the gap back to three but Tempo answered with points from Aidan Breen and Ryan Ingram to put five in it with 54 minutes on the clock.

It was all Irvinestown though in the closing stages and both Liam Murphy and Sheridan had goal chances that they fired wide.

Ormsby though did convert two frees and Kevin McDonnell tagged on a point from play but they could not find the goal they needed as Tempo held on for a hard fought victory.