Louth and St. Sylvester's forward Darren Clarke claims the Wee County no longer hold any fear of Dublin.

Dublin have had the Indian sign over Louth for many years now and were easy winners of the last championship meeting between the sides two years ago. But Louth's dramatic improvement this year, coupled with Dublin's apparent decline, has given Peter Fitzpatrick's men the belief that they can win today's encounter at Croke Park.

"Dublin probably don't have the same air of invincibility about them that they had under (Paul) Caffrey, when they were putting up some serious scores," said Clarke, who missed the 2008 clash due to injury.

The Ardee native was an unused sub in the Leinster final when Joe Sheridan's late controversial goal robbed the Wee County of a first provincial title in 53 years. But he claims that Louth are, for many, the people's Leinster champions.

He also feels that Dublin didn't come close to doing themselves justice when they suffered an 11-point drubbing at the hands of Meath in the Leinster semi-final.

"Although Meath got their hands on the cup, a lot of people will view us as Leinster champions," he said.

"They (Dublin) had a very bad day against Meath when everything Meath hit seemed to go into the back of the net.

"But fair play to Gilroy, he has stuck with the same full-back line since then. Dublin will be a tough team and for us, it will be about cutting off the supply of ball going into the likes of (Bernard) Brogan." Tweet

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