Egan faces fitness battle as Offaly U-20s begin defence of All-Ireland U-20 football crown

CORMAC Egan is a major doubt for Offaly as they begin the defence of their Leinster and All-Ireland U-20 football crowns against Louth in Kilcormac's Faithful Fields on Thursday evening.

Egan's flying forward play and blistering runs forward was one of many magical parts of the Offaly team that captured a sensational All-Ireland title last year but unfortunately he has ran into hamstring problem since then.

A bad tear meant that he missed out on Tullamore winning the Senior Football Championship title, though thankfully an operation wasn't required and he got back into action in the new year. The Tullamore man featured in three National Football League games for Offaly, only adapting to life at that level in his final one against Meath, and he was left with the U-20s after that.

Egan, however, pulled the hamstring again in a challenge game against Cork recently. He was in excellent form that night and the injury means that he will face a late fitness test before Thursday evening.

He was scheduled to get a scan on Tuesday and manager Declan Kelly stated that they will wait before making a final decision. Egan has been named on the starting team but if they are not satisfied with his fitness, he won't start – Offaly will be trying to protect the player and will be hoping that the injury does not become a serious, long term one.

There will be plenty of excitement and interest in Offaly in this game after last year and Offaly have a number of the team that started in the All-Ireland final win over Roscommon – goalkeeper Sean O'Toole, defenders, Tom Hyland, Lee Pearson, Fionn Dempsey and John Furlong, midfielder, Morgan Tynan and forward Cormac Egan. In addition, they have Keith O'Neill, Cormac Delaney, Daragh Flynn, Cathal Ryan and Jamie Guing from the panel.

Clara's Alex Egan is out with a quad injury – he would have been there or there abouts for selection. The team has been announced and there is no place for Fionn Dempsey, a starter last year, who is named among the subs. Newcomers on the team include Ballinagar trio, Diarmuid Finneran, Geordi O'Meara and Adam Strong; Tullamore's Jay Sheerin and Ferbane's Daragh Flynn. Tullamore's Harry Plunkett will lead the attack from centre half forward – he played in the win over Westmeath last year but was not on the panel for the rest of the campaign.

It is a strong looking team though they will notice the absence of some of the over-age players from last year, particularly Jack Bryant and Cathal Flynn who were sensational in the attack.,

While Offaly will have an air of expectation surrounding their prospects, no one really knows how they will progress. They have worked hard but preparations have been somewhat disjointed with a number of players on colleges freshers' teams while others were on the Offaly senior football panel – Lee Pearson, Morgan Tynan, Cormac Egan and Keith O'Neill all featured in the league.

Managing their workload was the biggest challenge for the early months of the year and Kelly revealed that the seniors had first call on players for the league campaign. It meant that they played most Liam O'Connor Cup and challenge games without some key players. “We looked at it from game to game in our league as to where players were with senior plans that weekend. The thought process was that the seniors would have them for the league but they were never going to be not available for the U-20 championship.”

While it did disrupt their preparations, Kelly was happy with this situation. “We may not have had all lads available but it gave others opportunities. They were getting games and had a chance to put their hands up and make it difficult for fellows coming back. We always said our role is getting lads through to play senior. That is what is it about but U-20s need to be mindful that it does take a few years to become established on a senior squad.

“I have always told any lad that is just out of U-20s that they need to be prepared to serve an apprenticeship for a few years. It will not happen straight away and you can't expect to start straight away. I would say to them, if you get the call, go in but keep your head down. The last thing you want is a fellow opting out because he is not getting a game. It takes time and it is a big step up again. It is about keeping them in the system and if they work hard, they will get into the senior team. They are all young and it is 23-24 before they are really at their peak at that level. And that is if they work hard.”

Kelly expects a tough test from Louth on Thursday. “Leinster is very competitive. We are All-Ireland champions and there is expectations there but Louth are coming down to Faithful Fields and they are on a high. They will give it a serious rattle. It is up to lads to step up and the lads who are expected to perform, need to perform. Our big guns are expected to perform and if they do that, we have a right good chance but if not, we won't survive.”

The U-20 championship is a hectic, condensed one with a packed schedule of games. It is knockout and the winners of Offaly and Louth play Carlow the following Thursday, with the Leinster semi-final and final following on successive weeks. It was the same last year and served Offaly well as they built up huge momentum but Kelly said:

“It was initially meant to be a development competition for senior but is there a lot of development when it is week in, week out and a straight knockout? That is a debate for another day but that is the way the U-20s has been. There was a round robin for the first year but now it is the only straight knockout championship. That is the way it is but there is no margins.”

OFFALY: Sean O'Toole (Shamrocks); Lee Pearson (Edenderry), Diarmuid Finneran (Ballinagar), Tom Hyland (Bracknagh); Geordi O'Meara (Ballinagar), John Furlong (Tullamore), Jay Sheerin (Tullamore); Morgan Tynan (Ballinagar), Adam Strong (Ballinagar); Cormac Delaney (Clara), Harry Plunkett (Tullamore), Marcus Dalton (Clara); Cormac Egan (Tullamore), Keith O'Neill (Clonbullogue), Daragh Flynn (Ferbane). Subs – David Dunican (Ferbane), Dylan Kilmurray (Rhode), Daire McDaid (Tullamore), Cathal Ryan (Daingean), Fionn Dempsey (Bracknagh), James Nolan (Raheen), Jamie Guing (Clonbullogue), Eoin Murphy (Tubber), Luke Bourke (Tullamore).