For Laois manager Tom Cribbin the decision was simple. Westmeath were strangling Laois and their summer was folding in around them.

An upcoming kid, Tom Kelly, was sprung from the bench at halftime for one of the Laois stalwarts, Michael Lawlor. His introduction coincided with a Laois goal which transformed the entire trend of the match. First man shouting was Lawlor.

"He was very positive about it," recalls Cribbin, sitting in a prefab in O'Moore Park in Portlaoise. For July, there is a cut of autumn to the evening and training is confined to a kickabout.

"Naturally, he was disappointed but almost immediately, he was out of the bench and roaring encouragement," continues Cribbin.

"Brilliant to see. It was hard on him because all week people were saying that Tom had turned the game after Mick went off. And Tom gave the thing a buzz for sure. But chances are if Mick had stayed on, he'd have probably cracked in the goal."

Two weeks later came the flip side. Confined to the bench after his relegation in the Westmeath game, Lawlor came in as an early sub after Dublin cut through for six points. Lawlor, ginger haired and intense, instantly began dictating the flow of game and Laois imperiously established a platform from which they ought to have won.

"His attitude was that if he got a run, he was damn well going to take it. He was amazing. I had put a lot of pressure on Mick in the run-up to the Westmeath game, maybe too much. He was quiet in the run up to the Dublin game but very cool, collected. The perfect response."

For Lawlor himself, it was all he could do.

"The week coming up to the Westmeath game, I wasn't in the best form. Early on in the match, I knew it wasn't going to be my day, that I was as well on the line," he says, his voice echoing around a cold, stone dressing-room.

"Then, against Dublin, I got on. If I did the business, well, I was a great lad. If I didn't, well, what of it."

Although Lawlor is still only 26, his career spans the entire decade. His debut? "October 1990 against Fermanagh in an All-Ireland B game. I was 17."

Inevitably, he learned the truth.

"We had some great wins over the years and ran the quality teams close but there was an inconsistency there. Maybe we were content with the idea of just reaching a Leinster final.

"In previous years, there were three or four players who might have let us down on big occasions and we got used to the idea of falling short. That's changed now and the aim is to win the province outright."

As Lawlor speaks, the precocious "younger" Laois set file through and greet him with a series of jibes. He hits back with gusto and retreats to a quieter spot. Pleased with the exchange.

"They're great lads," he says of the minor and under-21 players brought in by Cribbin.

"We all went out for a few beers after the draw against Dublin and had good old crack together. They'd give you a lift and of course the winning tradition they've been reared on helped us.

"All of a sudden this thing has gained momentum and the amount of people in Laois coming up to us on the street after the Dublin game was astonishing."

But for all the revived optimism, they are statistically no further on. Still have to subdue Dublin in Croke Park. Doesn't the magnitude of it all spook him?

"Every year, you start training, and winning a Leinster medal is on your mind. From when I was 14, my main ambition was to play for Laois. You see young lads now going around in Laois jerseys and the buzz that creates is amazing. Every time I put on a Laois jersey I believe we are good enough to win. That's going to be the mindset on Sunday."

When Cribbin took over at Christmas, the senior scene was in turmoil. His chief asset was patience. No hasty promises, no ultimatums. The manager came to training over the first weeks clueless as to how many would show. Some were slower returning than others.

Mick Lawlor commuted from Dublin on the very first evening.

"He just doesn't seem to lose the keenness. His presence mattered and he has done an awful lot to bridge the gap between the young lads, " says Cribbin.

"You know, before there was always this thing of us never beating Dublin at Croke Park. But after the draw, some of the younger lads were saying they'd never been beaten by a Dublin team in Croke Park. I looked over at Mick and he was there in the corner loving it."