Meath's footballer of the year for 2008, David Bray, made his mark on the county stage in this season just passed as Eamonn O'Brien's men advanced to a last four meeting with eventual All-Ireland champions Kerry. By Liam O'Rourke. With elder brother and team captain, Stephen, suspended arising from the controversial red card received in the final minutes of Meath's win over Limerick in the fourth round of the qualifiers, the younger Bray made his mark in a big way in the quarter-final win over Mayo. In his first championship appearance at Croke Park he scored 1-3 from play as Meath overcame Connacht champions, Mayo in a performance reminiscent of the glory days of the 'Eighties and Nineties that Bray revelled in re-watching on video. It also vindicated the decision of the team management to keep him on the panel even though the first half of his year was blighted by injury. His 19th minute goal put Meath - who were on the back foot in the early exchanges - on level terms, 1-2 to 0-5, for the first time with Mayo and Bray showed commendable composure in executing the score at the Hill 16 end. "It took me a couple of seconds to realise that my marker (Keith Higgins) had slipped. If you watch it again, I was nearly going to fist it over the bar. Then I realised I had a lot of time on my hands and a chance to bury it. That was it. In it went," he recalls. Listening to the man who made his senior championship debut against Waterford in the first round of the All-Ireland SFC qualifiers on the first Saturday in July, it's apparent that individual honours are not what he's about. "It's a team game at the end of the day," he emphasises when individual accolades are mentioned. He conceded though that his display against Mayo was the highlight of the year from 'a personal point of view'. He also had a central role in the 54th minute goal that got Meath to within a point of John O'Mahony's men, 2-8 to 1-12, when he was fouled for the penalty that Cian Ward subsequently netted with aplomb. "It was a dubious enough penalty. But we'll take everything we can get," he concedes. Meath went into the All-Ireland semi-final against Kerry on August 30 as rank outsiders. "Some might say Meath fell into a semi-final. But the draw also fell nicely for Kerry too in the qualifiers, allowing them to build momentum. But you have to take your chances when they're there," he remarked. Wins over Waterford, Westmeath, Roscommon and Limerick in the qualifiers allowed Meath build up a head of steam going into that All-Ireland quarter-final clash with Mayo. After conceding an early goal from Darran O'Sullivan's mis-hit penalty kick, Meath were always playing catch-up with the Kingdom, eventually losing by four points. "It was one of them days. It was a bit like the Dublin game (in the Leinster SFC on June 7). We came out and we played flat. We didn't come out and play well at all," Bray ruefully recalls. Regarding Navan O'Mahonys failure to defend the local SFC title, he remarks succinctly: "We didn't have the strength we had last year when everybody was at the full peak of fitness." From a standing start, David Bray has come a long way in inter-county terms in 2009 lining out in six championship games, five of which ended in victory, scoring 2-9 (0-2 frees). This talented left-footed player has been on the local radar since making an impression as part of successful Navan O'Mahonys underage sides over the past decade. However, he missed out on provincial and All-Ireland successes while a student at St Patrick's Classical, School, Navan. He didn't make the county minor football team either. Inter-county recognition came at under 21 level in 2006 and 2007. In the latter year he was an unused substitute on the Meath team that lost by 0-10 to 1-10 to Offaly at a rainswept O'Connor Park, Tullamore. Drafted in as one of the fresh faces to the squad by new manager Eamonn O'Brien, Bray lined out in the O'Byrne Cup exit to Kildare in January, scoring one point in the 1-8 to 1-10 defeat at Newbridge. His league debut was in less than auspicious circumstances as Meath lost by 0-9 to 1-15 to Cork a NFL Division 2 opener at Pairc Ui Chaoimh on February 1. Clubmate Barry Regan was another debutant on that occasion. On the plus side he did enough to warrant a third outing for the county in the number ten shirt and scored three points (two frees) in the minimum margin, 0-12 to 2-7, loss to Fermanagh on Saturday, February 14. The following weekend was a bitter-sweet for the 23-year-old. On the Friday night he scooped the footballer of the year prize at the county's awards night. Two days later he picked up an ankle injury in a local Division 1 FL fixture at Seneschalstown and didn't figure again for Meath until his championship debut nearly five months later. No sooner had his ankle healed than he picked up a thigh muscle injury which ruled him out of Meath's Leinster SFC clash with Dublin on June 7. "I was very fortunate to be kept on the panel, to be honest. I was very surprised they kept faith with me because I missed two months of football. "With the amount of injuries I had I was sure Eamonn O'Brien was going to come to me some night and say 'we'll leave it until next year." His chance came in the All-Ireland SFC first round qualifier against Waterford at Pairc Tailteann on the first Saturday in July 13. Listed at top of the right, he scored three points (two frees) in a facile Meath success. "Like any player I was just glad to get the chance to prove myself. When you're out there, you just forget whether it's your debut. It's just another game." David acknowledges the presence of Stephen in settling into the side. "He's a big help. He's one of the best players in the county. It's good to have him around the dressing room." That win over Waterford was followed by comfortable wins over Westmeath and Roscommon. His first championship goal ended the Rossies' hopes of causing an upset at Pairc Tailteann on the last Saturday in July. That set-up a fourth round qualifier meeting with Limerick and a chance to avenge the humiliating defeat at the Gaelic Grounds in 2008. Meath were hanging on at the end and eventually prevailed by a point. The win was overshadowed by Stephen Bray's dismissal which ruled him out of the Mayo game "We shouldn't have been in that situation. We were five or six points the better team, but that's the way it goes. We gave away two bad goals. The first one was a clear 'square ball'. They got two fortunate goals which brought them back into the game. We were probably the better side on the evening." The Mayo game wasn't his playing debut at Croke Park. That came in 1998 in a mini-game at half-time in the Meath-Offaly Leinster SFC clash. Along with some fellow pupils from St Paul's he was recalled for a similar appearance during the interval in the All-Ireland SFC semi-final. Unfortunately for him he was wearing the Kildare colours on that occasion when the Lilywhites dethroned of All-Ireland champions, Kerry. "That was a bit of a sickener!," he joked. Current Wolfe Tones manager, Cathal O Bric was a teacher at St Paul's during his time at the Abbeylands school. He also prospered under the guidance of Paddy O'Brien in the Saturday morning coaching sessions at Navan O'Mahonys. "We were all taught by Paddy until under 12 and then we moved on." In David's case to winning the full compliment of underage titles. On two occasions he played in the national finals of Feile Peile na nOg. "Tommy Dowd was my idol. He was the player we were brought to look up to. In club football he'd be out in front and score from any angle, left and right." David's father Joe also hails from Dunderry giving him an added reason to look up the 1996 All-Ireland winning-captain. That successful year provides him with some of his earliest footballing memories. O'Mahonys 1997 SFC success was hailed from the hill at Pairc Tailteann along with fellow members of the club's underage set-up It also leads to an acknowledgement of the efforts of Paddy and Mary O'Brien. "They got us all playing. All the club team at the minute would have played under Paddy. Eight of us on the county panel would all have played under him as well." Reflecting on Meath's performances over the year, Bray comments : "Against Kildare (in the final round of the league which ended in a draw) I thought we played very well. We were finally starting to get it together. "Going into the Dublin game, we did fancy ourselves but we were keeping it fairly low-key. To come out and play the way we did we were very disappointed. "We had the same feeling after the Kerry game. There was so much more in the tank and we didn't empty it." He ends on an optimistic note : "There is a real feeling among the players that we can build on the progress made this year." Tweet

Most Read Stories