Right back to where he started from once more

Meath footballer David Bray will miss the rest of the year after suffering a recurrence of the cruciate knee injury that has already kept him out for over 12 months. Just as Bray was negotiating the final steps on the long road to recovery, he was flattened again and now finds himself right back where he started from. The prospect of not playing football for the next six or seven months is a major blow for Bray, Navan O'Mahonys and Meath. With the county team struggling to maintain their place in NFL Div 2 Bray was seen as one of the returning heroes that could lead Seamus McEnaney's men out of the doldrums. His return was cited by the manager in recent weeks as one of the reasons to be cheerful, but now both men have suffered a setback. For Bray this is another blow that has knocked back one of the promising careers in Gaelic football. After bursting onto the inter-county scene following Navan O'Mahony's Keegan Cup success in 2008, Bray was touted as being the "new breed" of Meath footballer. He was tipped to spearhead the Royals attack for many years alongside Cian Ward, Joe Sheridan and Shane O'Rourke. After a sensational campaign in 2009 including a number of impressive championship performances the county was foaming at the prospect of the younger Bray brother leading Meath to glory in 2010. However, a sudden halt was put to that gallop in Thurles on Sunday 14th March 2010 when he was forced off in the last minute with a knee problem that was later diagnosed as a cruciate ligament tear. So began the long road to recovery. After almost a year of sweat and tears inside the four walls of a gym Bray was expected to make his return to the Green and Gold on Saturday 26th February against Antrim, but then the unthinkable happened. After successfully negotiating his way through a couple of challenge matches and several inter-panel games Bray was in final preparation for his return for the NFL Div 2 game against Antrim when he twisted awkwardly in training and felt something give way in his knee. Bray dismissed it as just another speed bump on the road to recovery, a minor twinge that would clear itself up with another couple of weeks rest. Even trips to the knee specialists suggested that he hadn't done any serious damage. However, the problem refused to go away and last week a scan revealed the true extent of the injury. Bray had suffered another tear of the cruciate ligament and will require key-hole surgery to discover the full extent of the injury and then a corrective operation to replace the ligament. When all that is done then the trek to the top must start at the very bottom again. "I'm gutted at this injury because I had worked so hard to get back and now I'm back where I started. That's football I suppose and it is one of those things I'll just have to get on with and hopefully I'll come back stronger than ever," said Bray. "I spoke to Prof O'Byrne and Ray Moran, who are the top surgeons in the country, and they had a look at the knee and the conclusion is the same. It is sickening because I've been spending five or six nights a week in the gym in an effort to get back. It's just one of those things. My knee was as good as new, so to do it again was just one of those things, it was in the lap of the Gods. "I've had a few little setbacks throughout the recovery period, but you'd expect those things. I was feeling perfect for the last few weeks and then it happened again. That is the most annoying thing because I was feeling good and I was ready to play. To be so close and then gone again is sickening. "Football is my life. We all put in a huge effort to try to get something out of it at the end, so when something like this injury happens it just sets you back." Aside from football this type of knee injury also has a knock on effect on Bray's everyday life. As well as the hours spent rehabing he has also missed huge amounts of work. However, he is fortunate to have a good employer like Roadstone who have given him the time he needs to get back to fitness. "After the operation I won't be able to do anything for three months. Then I'll start jogging again and it'll be a case of building up the knee again," he said. "It is depressing enough. It will also effect my work as well. If it was just a scope I needed it would only be a few days off, but with the full operation I could end up needing to take eight weeks off and that is a hard thing to do nowadays. It's not a good time to be out of work, but what can I do." Bray's absence has been a major blow to McEnaney's start as Meath manager, but the O'Mahonys man is quick to dismiss the suggestion that things might have been different if he was available. He urges the Meath fans not to get disheartened with the current form. He can see things improving significantly and if Meath can get most of their injured stars back then Bray believes it could be a bright summer ahead. "I don't know if my return would have made much of a difference to the team's current form. I wouldn't be too pessimistic about how things are going because we are always slow to get going in the league," said Bray. "We have a lot of injuries with nine or 10 lads out of contention. With so many lads out you miss out on that competition for places and that can have an effect. "From the championship teams for the last couple of years we are missing Kevin Reilly, Chris O'Connor, Graham Reilly, Stephen (Bray), myself, Peadar Byrne, Mickey Burke, Jamie Queeney and a good few others as well. Even Cian Ward has been suffering niggling injuries and his absence has been a blow. "The form will improve and when we get all those players back it should be a huge boost to the team," said Bray. Unfortunately Bray won't make it back to play any part in this year's campaign, but at 24-years-old he still has a huge amount of time on his hands and he is determined to come back better than ever and lead the Meath charge for many years to come. "What doesn't kill me will make me stronger, that's my view on the whole situation," he concluded.