Leinster SF Final/Laois v Westmeath: Colm Parkinson has been around for some time. He just hasn't stepped up to the plate, until now. And yet the wavy-haired Laois full forward exudes a confidence that can be misinterpreted as arrogance. A swagger. Quite simply, he backs his own abilities, as the closing scene of the Leinster semi-final against Meath showed.

Laois had the game in the bag, thanks mainly to Parkinson's killer goal, but Meath have a knack of cheating death. So as the clock ticked down Parkinson wasted time under the Cusack Stand as three angry Meath defenders closed in. He knew by not releasing the ball he would be hit hard. What did he do? He courted the physical contact with a cheeky double solo. After being upended, he was kicked in the face by John Cullinane, who was red-carded.

"No they didn't like the smart-arse kind of going on, did they? But he didn't hurt me at all, to be honest; he was just running past and he gave me a kick, that's all. I don't know why I did it. I suppose I knew I'd get fouled and we'd win a free and that would be the end of it. It's no big deal. I knew a few of them would come in with big shoulders. Ross (Munnelly) could take his time to come over and take it and that would be the end of the game. It's just something that happened."

It was shades of last year's National League final when Tyrone's Gavin Devlin stamped on him. The hairstyle attracts plenty of attention but more recently it has been his outstanding talent that courted the late hits. It wasn't always that way.

A superstar at underage level, he turned his back on the county scene to travel Stateside for a couple of summers.

"I really don't see them as lost years at all. I don't regret it at all. You're in college and you go away to America to earn a few pounds for the next year. It's what a lot of people do. There's no point in being 35 and you didn't do anything, you didn't go anywhere.

"Anyway, Laois didn't do anything back then so I completely made the right choice."

No regrets, but his eyebrows were raised by the almost immediate turning of the tide when Mick O'Dwyer arrived. The flip of a coin, as Ross Munnelly described it. previously, players like Parkinson and Damien Delaney could practically guarantee themselves a place in the side. But big names meant nothing to Micko. 2003 may have been a memorable year for Laois football but it was a nightmare for Parkinson. Hampered by injury, he finally got back to full health with his head floating in the clouds. No way to be going into an All-Ireland quarter-final against the defending champions, Armagh.

"It was a great year for Laois but I kind a missed all of it because I was gone with the hamstring for about 10 weeks. I came back and just basically played badly. I was all over the place. When I came back my fitness wasn't as good as it was. I was pissed off that I missed most of the year already, that I'd missed most of the big games.

"I was just sulking. Things didn't go well for me. I came on in the Leinster final and played against Armagh but I couldn't find my feet. I didn't have the fitness; I was worried about my hamstring going again. My head wasn't right. It was new territory to be brought on and brought off. That was a disaster but that is how low it got for me."

He fears no one now. The demons of last year have been exorcised as he rediscovered his form in an old position near the square. Of, course he rarely stays put. "I wouldn't fear any kind of player I come up against. I did alright the last day but Westmeath will have plenty of man markers.

"I went to college (Maynooth) with Johnny Keane. He's a really tight marker. He's done a good job on everyone he's been on this year. I remember him in college: he's very tight, likes pulling the jersey and all that. Forwards don't really like. Hopefully they'll put him on Ross or something."

Despite the fact Westmeath are in search of a first Leinster title, and have had their number at underage, Parkinson believes Laois are man-for-man the superior team.

"Most of my experiences with Westmeath have been bad one's. In '95 they beat us in the Leinster minor final after two replays. I think I went off injured in the second game. I was in hospital for three weeks after rupturing my spleen. I think one of them hit me.

"At under-21 I was out with a hamstring injury; I went off after 20 minutes in the first game and I only got on for the last 15 minutes of the replay so I will be looking forward to

. . ." he trails off as a thought strikes him: "Hopefully that's not a bad omen. God, I might do my hamstring. I'm only after thinking about that."

Previously more an enigma of the game than a dominating force, he has matured in recent years, with a sales job in Stradbally to prove it, allowing football to become a priority.