It is last chance saloon for Ederney and Tempo this Sunday as they battle it out to see which of the sides will retain their Senior Championship status for 2022.

For the loser it will be the Intermediate Championship next year and with such high stakes this is sure to be a tense encounter.

Ederney, of course, entered this year’s championship as holders but after a titanic tussle against Derrygonnelly they eventually lost out after extra time in a replay and last week they struggled to lift themselves from the disappointment of that defeat as they lost out to Roslea.

Manager Mickey Cassidy says that they will have to have their heads in the right place this Sunday in Irvinestown if they are to avoid relegation.

“It is all or nothing on Sunday and we just have to up our game and get our heads right because they weren’t in the right place last week.

“I will make no excuses, it was tough and Roslea had an extra week but that’s what happens when you draw matches. Sport can be very cruel,” said Cassidy.

And Cassidy knows that this week is going to be all about heart and desire.

“Any team that is in this position at this time of the year, it is a dogfight. You will not get anything handed to you, Tempo will no more want to go into Intermediate than we do.

“It will be a battle, you have to take the time of year into consideration and Tempo are fighting for their lives as well.

“Everybody wants to play in the senior championship and it doesn’t only affect the present players but also the players coming up,” he added.

The Ederney manager is not expecting a high scoring affair on Sunday and he knows that goals could be crucial in the outcome.

“If you look at most of the championship games, there has been no high scoring games so when you score goals they are crucial especially at this time of the year,” he said.

Tempo made their exit from the championship with a slender loss to Enniskillen and now find themselves in this situation following defeat to Teemore last week.

Manager Stephen Jackson wants to see more fight from his side than they showed in the second half against the Shamrocks.

“It is last chance and we just have to go all out for it on Sunday. We have to play football and show fight, we didn’t win the fight in the second half against Teemore and that was the problem so on Sunday we have to go for it,” he said.

And he agrees with Cassidy that it is going to be a battle.

“It is all about winning. The way I see these type of matches; Tempo have been involved in these on and off for a lot of years and football goes out the window and it is all about mentality. You have to get down and dirty and dig it out if needed.

It will probably be a damp, soft pitch and the football is likely to be poor and you just have to dig deep,” he explained.

Tempo have already suffered relegation in the league this year and Jackson stresses that it is vital that they hold on to their senior championship status.

“It is really important, there is no doubt about it. When you get to the championship end of the season it is great to be putting yourself up against the big boys in the senior championship, especially with us in Division Two next year. “Status in senior championship will really drive us on to get promotion from Division Two I would think,” he concluded.