Crawford: we did it for our suspended captain

GIVING suspended captain Stephen Bray the opportunity to play in the All-Ireland football semi-final against Kerry on August 30 had been a huge motivation for Meath going into yesterday’s game against Mayo in Croke Park.

Admitting that he had been a huge loss after being red-carded the previous week against Limerick, the team’s sole All-Ireland medal-holder Nigel Crawford agreed it had been a powerful motivation for them to stay in the championship.

“Stephen is probably our best player. It was up to the rest of us to try and work as hard as we could and give him every chance to get back in – and thankfully we did that.’’

Full-forward Brian Farrell concurred, pointing out that, at the same time, Bray’s misfortune didn’t deflect them from the task on hand.

“Everyone knows what he is capable of. He is one of the best forwards in Ireland, and if you had to play well for anyone, Stephen Bray is your man We all knew we had to up it, (but) at the same time we didn’t get bogged down. He got suspended, that was it. We took it on the chin. No one was giving us a chance but we know what we have within our dressingroom.’’

Accepting Mayo were favourites on the basis of winning the Connacht title, Crawford stressed the importance of their winning run in the qualifiers, saying that they were ‘battled-hardened.’

“We had four games under our belt on the road – tough games as well, especially the Limerick game away. We were really under pressure down to 14 men at the end of that game, so I suppose we drew a bit of strength knowing we got through that way.’’

For him, their show of character after Mayo goaled midway through the second-half to go four points clear was crucial. “The key then was to strike back straight away – whatever it was a point or a goal. In our case it was a penalty which Cian Ward finished, If Mayo had tagged on another score that could have been it, I think that was the turning point – getting that first score straight away. In two minutes we were on parity.’’

For Farrell, who played a key role in the attack, the real satisfaction in winning was in proving to the football world at large the Royals are a better team than they appeared last year. “It’s great to be back in the last four,’’ he added. “It just lays down a marker that last year was a blip in Meath football. When we got beaten down in the Gaelic Grounds by Limerick we got written off a lot in the media. But we have shown that we are a top five or top six team.

“We know we’re back to where we were two years ago. We know we let ourselves down against Cork (in the All-Ireland semi-final). Some will say ‘you can look forward to Kerry,’ but, can you. You saw what they did to the Dubs. But we have nothing to lose.”