Melvin Park lies in the shadow of the Glenade mountains, near the cemetery on the outskirts of Kinlough, a tight football village in north Leitrim. Some evenings now, when Colin Regan kicks a ball about, youngsters lean against the white fence and observe, picking up tips from their `county man'.

In many ways, the 22-year-old is emblematic of Leitrim's football tradition, exiled, as he is, from the homestead, spending winter nights jogging around suburban parks, burning his thoughts on Leitrim club football. A constant presence on inter-county underage teams, he has established himself as a tidy, attacking wing back.

Regan was drafted into the Leitrim panel last October when manager Peter McGinnity decided to go with new blood. He got the call with three other Kinlough men, a source of great pride in the community.

"I suppose the most memorable moment so far was the last League game against Louth. We went up there needing a win and afterwards, there were people from home on the pitch congratulating you and shouting your name. I had never known anything like that before," says Regan.

Sometimes though, it felt like the dark nights would go on forever. In January, McGinnity introduced his panel to Nuala Lilly who in turn acquainted them with the joys of modern dieting. They agreed to place a fatwah on drinks, steaks, damn near all of life's consumable pleasures.

"It took some getting used to alright. They were a hard few months, with the training as well. The benefits are obvious though, you feel a lot less lethargic than previously," he explains.

Studying and working in Dublin, Regan spent his Tuesday nights training with other Dublin-based Leitrim men and on Thursday nights, the inter-county players would pack into cars to meet their home-based counterparts in places like Mullingar or Kells. Midnight would have long turned by the time they arrived back in the capital. For six months they did this, for a championship which, pending the result of Sunday's game against Galway, might last 70 minutes.

"That's the effort you have to put in. I have never experienced such an intensity of feeling as there exists for the preparation for this championship. I suppose it comes down to pride, you know, wanting to do well for your county," says Regan.

Few outside Leitrim give the team anything but scant hope of downing Galway next Sunday. Even around the small parishes, there is a degree of trepidation.

"Galway are very impressive and naturally we will be serious outsiders. But there is a belief here now since 1994 and if we manage to restrict their flow, we feel we can win," he adds.

Regan isn't certain of whom he will mark, given Galway's propensity for switching but neither is he all that concerned: "I'll be more focused on the team aspect, just concentrating on us working well as a unit."

The chances are that John O'Mahony won't be relishing the prospect of bringing Galway to a wildly partisan Carrick-on-Shannon, a red-hot favourites tag dangling from the team bus.

"It's a noisy place, hopefully the crowd will get together and we will see what happens," says Regan.

It is a heady, privileged time in which to wear the Leitrim jersey. Regan still talks of the surreality of traipsing around Dublin on All-Ireland semi-final day four years ago, "watching faces you knew shouting out of every window and bar" and wishing they could have "pushed that bit more to beat Dublin".

Soaring ambitions voiced with quiet intent. Leitrim has extended its sporting horizon over the past decade. McGinnity has instilled a new stubborness in his players, a feeling that mere survival on the fringes is not enough.

Regan has been fed on that. Last summer he was, like many other Leitrim men, laying bricks in sweltering Chicago. This year, the expatriates will scour the Monday papers to read of his exploits.

Even if they win on Sunday, Leitrim will still be the outsiders. History couldn't have it any other way. But there is a healthy pulse now. Regan still remembers when Mevin Gaels folded in the early 80s, choked by emigration. This year, they are a good bet for the local championship and tickets for Sunday's game went within the hour. Optimism burns bright in the quiet county.