By John Harrington

Tom Cribbin says his Westmeath team will to go on the attack and have a real cut off Dublin in Sunday’s Leinster Football Final.

That would be a very different approach to the one they took in last year’s Provincial Final when they were ultra-defensive.

Their caution proved futile as they were eventually beaten by 13 points, and Cribbin has promised they will try to play more on the front-foot this time.

“Last year, we probably didn't honestly believe that we could,” he admitted. “This year, we believe we can. There is more belief because we are willing to throw caution to the wind now.

“Last year, they were terrified because we saw Longford and a few teams that went at them, and they got demoralised and they were beaten by 20-odd points, and we didn't want that to happen, we wanted to go and give a performance without getting demoralised.

“But now we have a bit of belief, beaten Louth, Offaly, Meath, Wexford and Kildare, probably the next five teams in Leinster, so now they feel they are entitled to have a go at Dublin.

“Maybe last year, they didn't feel they were entitled to have a go. Let's see how far we are away. If we are still 20 points away, we are still 20 points away.

“They feel they've nothing to lose this year. Last year, I knew by talking to them and everything, it was more they didn't want to be humiliated in Croke Park. Whereas now they don't care anything about that…they want to have a go.

"So it's easier to convince them to attack the game now and to go at it, whereas last year it was very difficult to do that. This year they want to have a cut at it. They just have loved their experiences in Croke Park, and they're not afraid this year to have a go at it."

No-one is predicting a Westmeath win on Sunday. The bookies have them priced them at 25-1, and even those long odds are unlikely to entice many punters. They go into the match with zero expectations weighing them down, and that’s why Cribbin is confident his players will perform to their full potential.

“Even compared to last year, you can feel it in the camp,” he said. “The level at training has moved up a serious gear or two, even since the Kildare game. You can see they're starting to express themselves an awful lot more. You can see them, they're really starting to enjoy their football, they're letting go. Playing the way you want them to play.

“They just feel they've nothing to lose going into this Leinster final. Now that doesn't guarantee us anything, because if you go man to man, 15 against 15, on the Dublin players and you were picking a team and you were all neutrals picking it – not Tom Cribbin! - there wouldn't be too many of our lads probably on the team.

"So you have to be realistic too. But, on a day, if our lads go in and their mental side is right…we need a goal or two early on, to give us confidence and to rattle them a bit. And that's the only hope we have. And we're very aware of that."

Westmeath are going to go actively looking for those goals from the very start on Sunday. Laois managed to score two against Dublin in the Leinster quarter-final when they ran at the heart of their defence, so there is a potential vulnerability there.

"We've looked at every goal that Dublin have conceded for the last five-six years. Basically the team that's there, every goal they've conceded,” revealed Cribbin. “And you study them inside out, and ask ‘can we emulate that?’ And some of them you think you can, if all goes well for you.

"Any team that's going to beat Dublin has to get goals. We reckon we've no chance of beating them unless we get three goals, and we don't concede a goal. That's the way we'll be planning the game. We've nothing to lose, so the only hope we have of causing an upset, the David and Goliath thing, is we have to get goals."

"It's really believing in yourself and counter-attacking at pace. You have to get that ball in really quickly, and the follow through. It's funny, the Tyrone guy showed at the weekend too – there was twice when it looked like they nearly had goals but didn't, and next thing all of a sudden Peter Harte arrived on the scene. When there was no reason for him to follow through; but if he didn't follow through he wouldn't have got the goals. 

"So you have to follow through in numbers, and it's critical…if you've two lads attacking or three lads attacking, it doesn't work. You need a minimum four to five lads attacking every single time, because that's the only way to stretch them. If you take them on in physical battles, you can't beat them."