'Waterford have gotten over fear factor' - Lorraine Bray delighted her side regularly competing with elite

An indicator of that progress made by the Waterford senior camogie team in recent years can be found very clearly in an interview given by Lorraine Bray in August 2021.

Bray and her Déise colleagues were preparing for a Glen Dimplex All-Ireland senior quarter-final against Tipperary. They would go on to lose that game but it represented a new building block after a period of supreme doubt.

That season had threatened to go off the rails, with relegation to Division 1B of the Very National League. After losing to Limerick in the Munster semi-final, they played host to a Down team playing senior championship for the first time in 22 years.

They fell four points behind in the second half but with Niamh Rockett shooting six from play, the Déise girls reeled the visitors in and Beth Carton struck an injury-time winner.

Bray made no bones at the time about the importance of that game. It was Derek Lyons' first year at the helm and the following season, they gave Cork a big fright in the All-Ireland semi-final.

Then last year, with Seán Fleming taking the reins, they reached the blue riband for the first time in 78 years. It proved a chastening experience as Cork galloped off into the sunset but it was a million miles from that day in the trenches against the Mourne women.

"We’ve been on a massive journey over the last two to three years and it’s brilliant to see for the girls who’ve been around for years – a few of us have been around the block for a while –to see that progression," says Bray.

"We haven't been at a standstill. We’ve wanted to drive on and get up to the level that others are at and stay with them."

The Cappoquinn midfielder, who will be 28 in October, is captain this year again and now a three-time All-Star. Her talents