The Lilywhites' year, they say. Get them while the odds are still decent. They ably rid themselves of those mocking ghosts by seeing off Dublin in their own backyard and didn't they learn much from Meath last summer? They'll be tough opponents for the Royals this time, alright.

Laois manager Michael Dempsey can't help but chuckle as he weighs up the similarities between the pressure on Mick O'Dwyer's Kildare and his own going into Sunday's Leinster semi-final. "I don't know, a lot seems to be expected of Kildare now. I suppose their games against Meath last year and their win a few weeks back has got people talking about them, but it's difficult to know whether having finally beaten Dublin eases the pressure - I think it possibly has - or whether there is now an increased expectation on them."

He voices his thoughts in fast-flowing clear-toned rhetoric, honest and as open as he feels prudence permits. "There is a perception that Kildare are now a mature team who have been through the learning mill and are peaking. Certainly, this is a big game for them but, you know, we really want to get to a Leinster final as well."

It's a relief to hear it and heartening to know that Laois will journey to Croke Park with more in mind than checking out what sort of midfield opposition Kildare will provide for Nestor and McDermott. Maybe they should take out full-page broadsheet adverts under the headline `We're still in the championship', because the Laois effort seems to have been obscured somewhat by Kerry's re-emergence from hibernation, Dublin's return to exile, Derry's annual renewal of summer vows and Kildare's uncompromising and new-found stamina.

"Well, for us, it was critical that we won the Westmeath game. We had seven championship newcomers starting that day and when you come from a tradition like our own - where we seem to always be looking to break through - it was vital they started with a win."

Dempsey has placed his trust in the audacious youth policy which brought the county an All-Ireland title two years ago and has yielded a succession of impressive under21 teams. That said, he is loathe to agree that Laois have fine-edited a blueprint guaranteed to make their clubs a model for other counties hungry for under-age success.

"Those players came about through the plain hard work of Gabriel Lawlor and a lot of others like him. The effort that goes in is so important and, as well as that, a bunch of fine individual footballers happened to come through at the same time."

Over the winter and in the wake of the Westmeath win, youngsters like Derek Conroy, Colm Parkinson, Stephen Kelly and minor star Brian McDonald have had an increasing influence on the set-up. "I suppose it's fair to say the balance has tilted slightly in youth's favour. But the older lads have got a tremendous kick out of them. They are very enthusiastic and positive at training and they are cocky, both from being young and from having won stuff."

He agrees that the average age has been sliced radically over the past year and is aware that the team's youthful outlook sets them apart from the average intercounty side. "Because we are that bit younger we aren't as physically strong as some other sides, I suppose we are more of a ball playing team," he says.

If that seems like a dubious team-frame to throw into the crushing Leinster championship arena, so be it. At the start of the year, when the ground was still frosted, Laois mulled over what might render their year successful. "Realistically, we want a Leinster title. Getting to that stage alone would be a tremendous learning experience. The breakthrough needs to come sometime. I know not many people fancy us, but we will be giving it a shot."

So they will come to play on Sunday, this enigmatic bunch of old-timers and youngsters with their once-a-week shaving kits. And the thing is, they couldn't care whose year it's supposed to be.