Royal return: Bray relishing second shot at glory after ban

WHEN the red mist descended on Stephen Bray in Portlaoise a few weeks back, the Meath attacker immediately feared the worst. His football season, which had been sizzling with promise, looked to have ground to a premature halt.

Tangling with Limerick defender Mark O’Riordan late on in their fourth round All-Ireland qualifier, prompted Armagh referee Pádraig Hughes to order Bray off the pitch and his pleas to the GAA’s disciplinary chiefs for clemency, fell on deaf ears. A season which had begun in a buoyant manner as Bray was handed the captain’s armband after helping guide Navan O’Mahony’s to county title success last autumn, was closing on a glum note.

But then Bray’s Meath teammates provided an escape chute from his misery, as they wrought a surprise yet merited success over Mayo in their All-Ireland quarter-final clash. The build-up to the game had been a trying time for Bray and he greeted the result by exhaling a gale of relief.