Kinawley manager Mark Monaghan was delighted with his side’s victory as they claimed the Intermediate title at Brewster Park on Saturday night.
The Brian Borus recovered from a very poor opening five minute spell that saw them concede 2-01 to hit five goals of their own on their way to a three point win over Tempo.
“We’re delighted with the win,” stated Monaghan. “We got off to a bad start and it took us a while to find our feet but after that managed to get a grip on the game. Conor Murphy going on Aidan Breen was a big change, and I thought Conor was very good. Then when Ru (Ruairi Corrigan) got the goal it really brought us back into the game. To go in at half time leading was a big boost for us because we hadn’t played well for the first 30 minutes,” he said.
Three first half goals form Corrigan had helped Kinawley turn a seven point deficit into a three point advantage at the interval although they did not make the ideal start to the second half as Tempo again came out of the blocks quickly.
“We said at half time that we wanted to get a good start to the second half and try and keep the scoreboard ticking over but we came back out and they hit the first three points to level it. The boys though showed great character again to go back up the other end and we were always able to keep that bit of a gap and we got goals at the right time,” said Monaghan.
The loss of Corrigan midway through the second half was a big blow for the Borus with the Fermanagh man having scored all of their 3-04 up to the point but Monaghan felt that others then stepped up to the plate.
“Ru was absolutely outstanding. His general all round play was very good and and he was always a threat with the ball so his loss was a huge blow. In fairness though Sean Leonard who came on and Shaun Doc, Paddy McGovern, Conor Murphy and those lads all stood up and showed leadership and at the end of the day that’s what got us over the line.”
Monaghan though is hopeful that Corrigan’s injury is not as serious as first thought. “We’ll have to wait and see with Ruairi. He was to get a scan on it but we are hopeful that there is nothing broke and that he will be alright.”
With the Intermediate title in the bag the focus for Kinawley now switches back to the league while they will also look forward to the Ulster Club.
“We’ll take the league final first of all and then we’ll see where we are and look forward for the Ulster Club game against Aghagallon.
For beaten finalists, Tempo, manager Sean Breen was in no doubt that the goals were the killer for his side.
“Every time we got a bit of momentum up and clawed a few scores back we conceded another goal and three of them came from us making simple mistakes. It was a big blow to us to go in three points down at half time after the start we got and then when we did get back we would give away another goal which was disappointing.”