Bray ready for Croke Park cauldron

Three, two, one. Meath have made gradual progress in more ways than one in their Leinster SFC campaign in what is turning out to be a long hot summer and they seek to make another step up in standard when they take on Dublin on Sunday.

So far they have despatched Wicklow who were in the NFL Div 3, then Wexford, who were in Div 2, and now they take on the Div 1 champions.

That steady rate of progress is one of the most encouraging aspects of the team’s display so far for Stephen Bray.

“It’s a gradual progress which is nice for a team like us, we’ve got some younger guys coming through and it’s nice that they are not thrown in at the deep end straight away,” he said.

“We’ve ideal preparation going into this game, we’ve built up a nice momentum, progressed through the league, got back to Div 2, we’ve got two good performances in the championship although it will be a different ball game against Dublin.”

For Bray it’s all about staying mentally and physically strong ahead of the game, blocking out all talk of a dominant, powerful Dublin about to feast on Meath’s vulnerabilities.

“You’re the one that is going to be playing so you have to keep all those thoughts out of your head. If you are to win you can’t let those thoughts go into your head, sure, what’s the point in turning up otherwise,” he added.

Bray suggests that all the pressure is on Dublin and that’s something they have to deal with. It’s they who are being touted as not just Leinster but All-Ireland champions in some quarters.

The heat is very much on them and they have to find a way to deal with it.

“That’s a lot of pressure to be dealing with as a player and they’re only human as well,” he adds.

The Navan O’Mahonys man says he’s “desperate” to win another Leinster tile.  
“I’m very hungry for success still, that’s what drives me on at the moment,” he commented. “Personally I would love to beat Dublin in a Leinster final.”

On Sunday he gets a chance to do just that.

Jimmy Geoghegan.