Three games - two of which went to extra-time - in the space of a week took their toll on Maryland as they crashed out of the intermediate football championship at the quarter-final stage. Full back and former county underage player John Cunningham looks back on an eventful year for the Drumraney outfit. Maryland must wait at least another year before they can rejoin the ranks of Westmeath senior football after a hectic three-match schedule in the space of a week left them out on their feet as their interests in the 2005 intermediate championship ended with defeat to Ballynacargy. While the Drumraney outfit showed a remarkable improvement on the previous year when they only avoided relegation to the junior grade by virtue of a play-off victory over Mullingar Shamrocks' second string, there was still a sense of disappointment in the club at failing to win the intermediate championship in a year which marked the 25th anniversary of Maryland's last Peter Geraghty Cup success. "While nobody gave us a chance in last year's intermediate championship, we firmly believed we could win it," full back John Cunningham says. "The fact that last year was the 25th anniversary of Maryland's last intermediate championship victory was a big incentive for us, and we were naturally disappointed when we failed to achieve our goal. "I've no doubt that the extra games took their toll on us. We beat both Bunbrosna and Tang after extra-time in the play-offs, but had no time to recover before we played Ballynacargy in the quarter-final. We used up a lot of energy against Bunbrosna and Tang, and I think it was unfair to expect us to play a third match in the space of a week. Ballynacargy were much fresher and that was very obvious when we played them," he adds. Under the management of former county midfielder Tommy McCormack, Maryland won their first three matches in last year's intermediate championship, but then lost three games on the bounce which left them in a three-way play-off with Bunbrosna and Tang to decide which team would advance to the quarter-final. As it turned out, Maryland emerged from this trio of teams, but found Ballynacargy to be a bridge too far in the next round. Maryland opened their campaign with a surprisingly comfortable 3-7 to 0-6 victory over Milltownpass at Shandonagh. Milltownpass had been flying high in Division 1 of the All-County League at the time, but the blue and whites made light of this as goals from Vinny and Tom Browne eased them into a 2-3 to 0-3 lead at the interval. When Tom Browne added his second goal three minutes into the second half, there was no back for Milltownpass. The Drumraney men continued their good form with a 1-10 to 1-6 victory over Bunbrosna and despite being without key players David and James Reynolds, Edward and Eoin Farrell and Cyril Molloy, made it three wins from three against Milltown at Ballymore. There was little to separate the sides until the 24th minute when Joe Harte scored the only goal. That score helped Maryland to a 1-5 to 0-3 advantage at the break and their eventual winning margin was six points, 1-10 to 0-7. The formbook was turned on its head when old rivals Tang inflicted a first defeat on Tommy McCormack's charges in round four. Despite an early goal from Tom Browne, Maryland found themselves 1-2 to 0-8 in arrears at half-time. Maryland reduced the deficit to the minimum on a couple of occasions in the second half, but the double sendings off of Stephen Martin and Tom Browne in the closing stages may have cost them a share of the spoils. A 0-7 to 0-16 defeat to Rosemount meant that Maryland needed to beat Kilbeggan Shamrocks in their final group match to be certain of a quarter-final place. With Ollie Moran prominent, the Drumraney men dominated the opening half but they were only on level terms at the break after registering nine wides. The teams were still deadlocked entering the final quarter, but Kilbeggan scored the last three points to secure a 0-11 to 0-8 victory. That defeat pitted Maryland against Bunbrosna for the second time in the championship. The signs looked ominous for the south county outfit when they trailed by 0-3 to 1-5 at the break, but two goals in the final 10 minutes from Tom Browne and David Martin forced extra-time. Maryland set off at a blistering pace in the first period and a Stephen Martin goal had them perched on a 3-9 to 1-10 lead as they sides turned around once again. Aidan Finnan pulled back a goal for Bun' in the second period, but Tommy McCormack's charges held on to record a 3-9 to 2-10 win. Three days later, Maryland avenged their earlier defeat to Tang to book their quarter-final spot. Once again, extra-time was required as the Drumraney men showed all their battling qualities to prevail on a 0-16 to 2-8 scoreline. Maryland seemed to be cruising to victory when they took a 0-7 to 0-2 lead into the interval, but Tang produced a typically dogged fight back and two goals from wing back Colm Conlon and centre forward Dermot Bannon gave them a 2-7 to 0-9 lead with eight minutes remaining. However, after Damien Reynolds scored a superb point in the third minute of stoppage time to send the tie to extra-time, Maryland took a decisive grip to run out winners. Before they could catch their breath, Maryland were back in action against Ballynacargy for a place in the last four. After Dwayne Maher posted two early points for Bal', Tom Browne uncharacteristically missed a great goal chance. Ollie Moran brought Maryland level in the 10th minute, but an injury to the same player a short time later was to prove costly as the blue and whites went into the break trailing by 0-4 to 0-7. Despite the heroics of David Martin in the second half, Maryland were not able to get any closer than three points as Ballynacargy triumphed by 0-11 to 0-7. Maryland had a satisfactory league campaign, finishing in a mid-table position in Division 2. "We were happy enough to consolidate our Division 2 status," notes John, who has featured for various county underage teams in recent years. "We had some notable wins over St. Malachy's, Moate and Rosemount and comfortably held our own in the division. There are some strong teams in Division 2 and we can only benefit from playing them." The 21-year-old student of history at NUIG is looking forward to the new season and the prospect of Maryland at least repeating last year's feat. "We have been very inconsistent over the past few years and the big challenge for us is to put two good years together. Last year was a big improvement on 2004 and we want to keep the momentum going in the coming year. I would hate to see us letting our standards slip and end up in a relegation play-off again." Cunningham echoes the sentiments of most GAA followers in Westmeath when he says that Maryland have underachieved since they lost the 1999 intermediate decider to Ballynacargy after three titanic battles. "There is little doubt that we have underperformed over the last few years. Nearly all of us have played county football at some level, but this hasn't been reflected in our results. This year, we have Ronan Moran, Conor Farrell and John Murray on the county under 21 panel. We're one of five or six teams capable of winning the intermediate championship and with a bit of luck, it might happen for us in 2006," he concludes. The Maryland team which succumbed to Ballynacargy in the IFC quarter-final was: John Murray; Colin Farrell, John Cunningham, Philip Rainey; Ronan Moran, Conor Farrell, John Harte; David Reynolds, John Tuohy; Anthony Reynolds, Damien Reynolds, Stephen Martin; Tom Browne, David Martin, Ollie Moran. Subs used: Declan Nugent, Aidan Reynolds, Lesley Reynolds and John Harte. Tweet

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