Egan happy to have fully fit panel for intermediate decider

Finbar Egan may be in his debut season as Maryland manager - but he"s still acutely aware of their recent history as the nearly-men of Westmeath intermediate football. As they prepare for Sunday"s county final against Ballynacargy in Cusack Park (throw-in: 3.45pm), Maryland still await a first intermediate title since 1980. Since then, they have contested a further three county deciders but lost on each occasion. Ironically, in both the 1987 and 1999 finals, it was Ballynacargy who defeated Maryland, with the 1999 final needing two replays to settle the outcome. The South Westmeath outfit also lost to Bunbrosna after a replay in the 2006 final. To add further insult to injury, Maryland were knocked out at the semi-final stage of last year"s championship against Shandonagh. On a brighter note, this particular set of Maryland players proved they can win when the pressure is on by securing the much publicised Celebrity Bainisteoir title earlier this year. Former Athlone and Athlone IT Sigerson Cup manager, Finbar Egan, took over the post this year and has led Maryland to another tilt at finally ending a 28-year wait for an intermediate crown. Egan feels his players deserve a county title for their efforts throughout a long campaign - but admits Ballynacargy will present a very difficult challenge. However, Egan has also pointed to Maryland"s quarter-final and semi-final wins over near neighbours Tang and Tubberclair as evidence that this Maryland team mean business. Speaking ahead of Sunday"s final in Mullingar, Finbar Egan said: 'It has been a long hard season for the players. We actually held our first training session in early December, so that proves the effort and commitment of the players and management staff. I think a lot of people believe Ballynacargy deserve a county title but I know our players deserve it, too. However, we have to perform on the day and I"m confident we can come away with a right result if we play to our potential and believe in ourselves on the big day.' 'We have done everything in our power to prepare the players in the best possible manner. Hopefully we can avoid injuries in the last few days leading up to the final. It looks like I"ll have a fully fit panel to choose from for the first time this year. It would be fantastic if we could push on and finally win a county title. We need a bit of luck. I don"t think Maryland"s past record impacts on the players. There"s absolutely nothing we can do to change history; it won"t even change if we win on Sunday! But we can impact upon the present and hopefully we will perform very well. Nine months is a long time to be training hard and now we need to use that to perform on the day of the final.' The nature of Maryland"s narrow wins over both Tang and Tubberclair could also help them, according to Finbar. 'I think those two matches will stand us in good stead on Sunday, particularly if it"s another close encounter,' he said. 'Tang have a lovely team and we did very well to overcome them in the quarter-final. Tubberclair are excellent and pushed us all the way the last day in Athlone. We got the winning point with just 20 seconds remaining, so it shows how close these games can be. Ballynacargy are strong, though, and have an amazing scoring record in recent matches. They have scored 14 goals in their last three games and are firing at the right time. It has been a long season for our players but they"re looking refreshed and hungry for success in recent weeks. The break we gave them after the group stage did the power of good. Hopefully we can get over the finishing line on Sunday.' Westmeath minor star Kieran Martin is available for selection again as is Stephen Martin. David Martin, David Reynolds and James Reynolds all played with injuries in the recent semi-final win over Tubberclair but are expected to be okay to line out on Sunday. Philip Rainey is another carrying a slight knock but should also make the cut.