Tempo forward Tiarnan Bogue says there is “definitely a buzz about the town” ahead of the Intermediate final this Saturday against Devenish in Brewster Park.

Tempo are looking to go straight back into the Senior Championship after last year’s relegation game loss against Ederney.

“It’s been an exciting two weeks for the club. Both Senior Men’s and Ladies’ teams have reached their respective finals, and although the ladies, unfortunately, missed out on silverware, an Intermediate title for the men would give the club a lift,” said Bogue.

Tempo booked their place in the final with a win against Belcoo at Brewster Park in wet conditions as they won by four points two weeks ago.

“We knew Belcoo were always going to be a tough fixture. They are a well-organised team and they beat us convincingly in the league. The conditions during the semi-final turned the game into a real dogfight.

“A goal was always going to be a big score and, thankfully, we managed to get two at the right time, with a bit of luck added in there as well.”

Tempo topped their Intermediate group with wins over Irvinestown, St. Pat’s and Lisnaskea, and Bogue said his side were motivated after missing out on promotion in the league.

“These past few years we have earned the tag of being an up-and-down team, particularly when it came to the league. The fact we finished this year’s league staying down left us with a bit of soul-searching to do.

“We felt that if we were to salvage anything out of this season it would have to come from the Championship,” he added.

“We put a huge focus on our first group game against Irvinestown. It was a special occasion to get a first home win for the club.

“Donagh were relatively unknown to us and that was reflected in an extremely cagey contest. We were then fortunate in how the fixtures fell in that our two wins were enough to automatically book a semi-final spot,” he added.

Bogue knows last year’s finalists will present Tempo with a tough task, having not played each other in the Championship for a while.

‘A few hurdles’

“I suppose, with Devenish being in the other group, we had a few hurdles to jump before it would be possible to play them.

“Despite Devenish probably going into the competition as favourites, we felt we could never look too far ahead, given the league campaign we had just come through.

“However, Fermanagh GAA TV has made it a lot more accessible to watch games.

“I’ve managed to watch their semi-final win against Derrylin. They are an impressive side with plenty of pace and plenty of players that can take a score.

“Fermanagh club football is probably too small for any team to be considered a total stranger, but it has been a few years since the two teams have played in the Championship.

“The new Championship structure increases the number of games required to win the competition.

“A win on Saturday would come with the added satisfaction that we had to beat five different teams to be crowned champions,” he said.