BELCOO ..........................................0-10

TEMPO ............................................0-9

The league champions opened the defence of their title with this one point home success over Tempo. The titleholders did so despite fielding a side that was depleted by the absence of Stephen Maguire and Shane McCabe, though the latter did appear for the second half.

They were also to play some forty minutes of the contest with fourteen players, corner forward Ian Corrigan sidelined prior to the break.

Played in excellent if breezy conditions, the game was to be a rather insipid one, the pace of the exchanges never developing into anything approaching intensity, though there was to be a tight enough finish as Tempo struggled to salvage a draw.

Belcoo held out however and in truth were deserving enough of the win for Tempo had far too many players on board who failed to make an impact on this occasion.

Belcoo were sharper in most of the things that they did and from the early moments there were indications that they were the livelier side. They had a couple of early points knocked over by wing half forward Paul McGrath with his accurate place kicking and John Carrigan was to add a third.

Tempo gradually settled down after their indifferent opening and responded with scores from play by Damian Kelly and Ryan Keenan but the home side were still the more alert and they eased three points clear by the middle stages of the half with an enterprising score from wing half forward Gavin Leonard who was to be one of their best players on the day plus a shot from Ciaran Leonard. This opened up a three point advantage but the departure of Corrigan was to unsettle Belcoo and for the remainder of the half it was Tempo who were in the ascendancy.

The Maguires reeled back the leaders with points from Bernard Rodgers, Thomas Campbell and Ryan Keenan and shortly before the interval, a Daryl Keenan free nudged them in front.

A promising position then for Tempo on the restart but they were to play poorly for the rest of the game. It was the home side who resumed in the more confident fashion, two Ciaran Leonard points easing them back in front within a few moments.

The response from Tempo saw answering scores from Daryl Keenan and Neil Rodgers but it was all a hotch potch effort from Tempo.

There was no real fluency or authority in their play and it was no surprise that Belcoo, after Carrigan had fluffed a couple of well placed free kicks, were to go back in front with a Carrigan score from play and their tenth point from Ciaran Leonard.

Belcoo played possession football over the extended period of added on time and successfully denied the opposition the chance to make up the deficit. The chasing side did have the game's final point but that came much too late and Belcoo had claimed a merited win.

For the winners, half back Ryan Dolan had a very effective match, up front Gavin Leonard always caused a problem and John Carrigan though he didn't make full use of his opportunities, was a sound enough target man.

For Tempo, centre half Declan Campbell worked well all through, Ryan Keenan won his ball in the full forward line but virtually everywhere else this was a chastening experience for the promoted team.

Referee Martin Higgins Lisnaskea.