Twenty years ago, the soft voiced, hard-as-nails bookmaker from Belfast was handed the role of 'The Bad Guy' in the Barry McGuigan story.

The Clones Cyclone hadn't a puff of wind (or a drop of water) left in him. He was in a hospital on the edge of the Nevada desert. The lights of Las Vegas were still dancing madly. Little Steve Cruz from Fort Worth, Texas was the new WBA Featherweight Champion of the World.

McGuigan had held the title for just 12 months and a short head, which was not too long, but which was still a hefty reign for a little fella who was only ever moderate-to-good in the ring.

With the peace flag wrapped around his body, and Eastwood's hands guarding his career, McGuigan made the big time for a short period of time. He was a lucky young man from a town in Ireland where nobody was going, anywhere, in the early '80s.

But it was Eastwood, every bit as much as McGuigan, who had seen to it that the reigning WBA champion had 26 victories out of 27 fights before that fateful day in Vegas. It was Eastwood's careful selection of opponents which was the single greatest dynamic in the fighter's career.

In his third defence of his title it all came apart at the seams, mainly because of the lingering white heat of the afternoon in Las Vegas. Barney was to blame for the timing of the fight. But, certainly, Barry was to blame for not knocking a 'nobody' into the fifth row of seats, where I happened to be sitting I might mention, as quickly as possible after the opening bell. Barney Eastwood wasn't 'The Bad Guy'. He was the man who made it all happen. And Mr Eastwood brings me straight to Mr O'Dwyer (right).

Nobody can lash Micko with an accusing tongue after what happened last Sunday in Croke Park. Football managers, unlike their counterparts on the corner of the ring, can not be in any way choosey about which team they will meet next on their journey towards immortality.

Laois should have been ready for Dublin seven days ago. They had no excuses. They were not good enough.

They did not have the heart, or even the desperate fighting instinct which McGuigan, God love him, possessed.

The team caved. Too many individuals raised too many white flags all over the field at the same time.

Of course, there is a way back for Laois next Saturday. They've got the reigning All Ireland champions in their own back yard, and if Barney Eastwood had gotten to choose, on Mick O'Dwyer's behalf, which team Laois will play in the second round of the All Ireland qualifiers, he would quite likely have picked his own native county.

Tyrone are very beatable. If Laois win, the victory can be made to appear significantly greater and more important than it actually will be because Tyrone are a team which has been damned with injuries in the summer of 2006 and 'someone' is trying desperately to tell them to forget all about trying to defend their All Ireland title.

But if the reigning champs get within an ass's roar of the All Ireland final then the whole country may have to vote on Tyrone sharing the Sam Maguire Cup with the eventual champions from 2006. Whoever wins it this year might have to have an asterisk inserted before its name in the record books, such is the number of top players Mickey Harte is missing from his team.

Laois can win this game. If they're any good, they will.

But this Laois team, even under Micko's expert guidance, has failed itself once too often over the last four years.

Last Sunday's defeat wasn't just about Padraig Clancy exiting the battle early on. And neither was it about the Laois defence being torn apart.

The Laois defence should not shoulder the greatest portion of blame. That, I would place on the members of the Laois forward division. They didn't lead and they stopped winning ball. Most of them might as well have spent all of the second half on the sideline next to their manager.

Wexford, after Dublin, are the second most exciting football team in the province. This afternoon, if they continue to play the game with the speed and the thrill which they brought to the field against Meath last month, they can earn the right to play Dublin in what could be a fantastic game of football.

This is the pairing everyone who enjoys attacking football will wish for in the Leinster final. Offaly, unfortunately, don't have that sense of reckless abandon about anything they do, despite the running of Ciaran McManus. It's also unlikely that they will have the dash about them up front to break through the Wexford defence.

Both teams have had to wait too long for this game, and the football, as a result, might be the victim. Paul Bealin has done an outstanding job in stepping into the shoes of Pat Roe.

The spring was difficult for the new manager but at this stage, it's clear that he has harnessed almost all of Roe's good work, and added two or three important players which Wexford lacked last summer. Wexford do look stronger in the middle of the field. However, their defence looks no better than the slightly slow and fairly ponderous defence of 2005, and far too many scoring opportunities are being left to the feet of Matty Forde.

Wexford can win by two or three points, but in the process they might still look four or five points inferior to Dublin.