TEMPO .......................1-12

DEVENISH ..................0-10

Devenish's five match run of straight wins ground to a halt in this clash with Tempo, the visitors tasting their first defeat of the season, five points adrift at the finish. They were a shade unfortunate to be that much in arrears for the game had been exceptionally evenly balanced as far as the scoring was concerned for fifty five minutes.

All through it had been a case of point for point the teams level on a host of occasions and with the continued trading of scores a draw appeared to be the likely outcome.

But Tempo who had managed to up the quality of their play, at least to a certain degree after the changeover were to make the final, decisive push.

They edged themselves two points in front as the game swung into the final few minutes and they were to secure the win with a late goal, substitute Conor Meehan on the edge of the square having little difficulty in fisting home a centre which had been lobbed over to him. No time for Devenish to fashion a recovery and this defeat for the league leaders has opened up the division.

For a game which saw scoring so finely matched, this contest lacked a cutting edge and in the main it was played out in a surprisingly subdued atmosphere. One of the reasons for this was that, in the first half especially, the vast bulk of the scoring was to be provided by placed kicks. John O'Flanagan was to casually loop over four of Devenish's seven points tally, the other scores coming from Darren Brady, Paul O'Brien and Jason Love.

For Tempo, five of their seven points tally also came from place kicking, the duties shared here by Ryan and Daryl Keenan, Niall McElroy with a couple of scores from play contributing the remainder of the tally.

Devenish had swept up most of the midfield possession and had also had the benefit of the breeze but they had been guilty of several wides so their position was not all that promising as they faced into the second half. There was to be no significant change however in the pattern of play for the third quarter, the teams again locked level on a number of scorelines, eight, nine, ten all.

Of the six points scored to bring the sides level on the threequarter mark on ten each, the top score was a terrific effort from Chris O'Brien.

But there were signs that Devenish were beginning to struggle as Tempo gained a firmer edge in several sectors and the home side has two more pointed frees from Daryl Keenan to give, at last, a sense that they could grind out the victory. Grind it out they did with Meehan's fisted goal and though there was a few minutes remaining the contest had been decided.

Referee Enda McBrien Derrylin.