GAELIC GAMES/Leinster SFC final replay: By 6.15 this evening what seems like half the population of Laois will be in Croke Park. No more or no less than for the drawn Leinster football final. To these fans Sunday's draw merely postponed the county's title defence and more neutral observers wouldn't suggest otherwise.
The Westmeath supporters are also set to travel again in similar numbers, and they, too, believe the draw merely postponed their county's winning of a first Leinster title. That's the beautiful thing about replays.
And yet it's inevitable that most of the talk surrounding a replay is about which team has the greater scope for improvement. Though not quite unanimous this talk has favoured Laois. They were 60 seconds away from losing their title before captain Chris Conway kept them afloat for another day and yet their potential was a little more obvious throughout.
It's inevitable, too, that when a team like Westmeath don't win first time out the talk is of missed opportunities. They were underdogs last Sunday, so there seems more pressure on them to repeat the heights of the last day. But it's easily forgotten how often they have hit those heights this season. Just think Offaly, Dublin and Wexford.
So this replay is unlikely to be as straightforward as common perceptions might suggest. Yes, Westmeath seemed to throw everything at Laois last Sunday and in the end it wasn't enough to win but who is to say for sure they don't have anything left?
Rory O'Connell, now at midfield from the throw-in, is an obvious source of a further power surge.
While O'Connell's reintroduction for Gary Dolan is the only change on the Westmeath team, Laois manager Mick O'Dwyer wasn't afraid to shake things up. According to selector Declan O'Loughlin they have picked a better team second time out, one that should cope better with the challenges Westmeath present.
For a start they'll have to get a better grip on Denis Glennon, Westmeath's young full forward, who scored a brilliant 0-5 from play last Sunday. Colm Byrne, Joe Higgins and later Tom Kelly were all put on Glennon the last day without much success.
In any event Higgins gets the nod for the evening, and with Paul McDonald moved from wing back to corner back, Byrne is the player to lose out.
Up front the Laois forwards never found their rhythm long enough to get the kind of scores that would have put Westmeath out of sight. They threatened to do that during the first quarter and again after half-time but untypically wayward passing and wild shooting, including some by Pauric Clancy at midfield, ultimately inhibited that greater scoring potential.
As a result the trusty old head of Michael Lawlor is called in to tidy things up there. Last year's captain Ian Fitzgerald moves down to the bench but he can have no quibbles after lasting only 23 minutes the last day. Gary Kavanagh now gets to wear the number 14 shirt.
In other words, O'Dwyer has recognised there were problems last Sunday and he's looked to correct them. He admitted, too, he'd have to change tactics for the replay and that does start to offer the prospect of an improvement.
Once Westmeath took control of midfield via O'Connell and David O'Shaughnessy the last day they surpassed all expectations and then appeared the likely winners. Damien Healy and Donal O'Donoghue and John Keane in particular also did everything that was asked of them in coping with Beano McDonald and Colm Parkinson and company and there's no reason to believe they can't cope as well this evening.
When Glennon's fifth point pushed Westmeath a score ahead they enjoyed 11 blissful minutes of dwelling on the threshold of championship glory. When Conway eventually equalised, Westmeath were ready for the kick-out. Instead referee Pat McEnaney blew the whistle of "humanity". But not one Westmeath player collapsed to his knees in regret, thinking the chance had gone.
Páidí Ó Sé certainly won't have a problem remotivating them. It's certain to be another finely balanced game and with extra time at the ready don't plan anything before 8 o'clock. But if their potential is fully realised this time out Laois should still be holding their title sometime before the sun goes down.
LAOIS: F Byron; A Fennelly, J Higgins, P McDonald; D Rooney, T Kelly, K Fitzpatrick; P Clancy, N Garvan; R Munnelly, M Lawlor, C Conway; B McDonald, G Kavanagh, C Parkinson.
WESTMEATH: G Connaughton; J Davitt, D O'Donoghue, J Keane; M Ennis, D Healy, D Heavin; R O'Connell, D O'Shaughnessy; B Morley, P Conway, F Wilson; A Mangan, D Glennon, D Dolan.
