A highly-acclaimed coach in recent years, Eoghan Bradley seems to be making a seamless transition to the Number One role along the sidelines right now.
Drafted in at the eleventh hour to manage his native Killyclogher club, the former County defender has overseen an encouraging start to the 2024 season, with St Mary’s only losing one of their opening five league matches in Division One.
They head into the summer break sitting inside the top five, and still have a game in hand on their rivals at the summit, that a home game with Eglish set to be rescheduled later this month.
Even without the likes of Matthew Murnaghan and Nathan Donnelly (both currently overseas in the US and Australia respectively), a generally youthful Killyclogher side had too much in the locker for Omagh last week in the derby clash at O’Neill’s Healy Park, easing to a nine point victory on the back of two Gavin Potter goals.
The early run of results would suggest that Bradley is taking to this management gig like a duck to water but he jests that it’s not without its stresses and headaches.
“ I wouldn’t say I’m enjoying it. It is a completely different dynamic. I have stood on the sideline a lot with Mickey Moran at Slaughtneil for three years and with Dom Corrigan over loads of teams, but I suppose it is different when you have to stand there and make decisions.
“ It is certainly a lot harder as a manager than as a player. At least out there you feel you have some control. You have no control standing on the sideline.”
A playing member of the three-in-a-row All-Ireland winning Tyrone Masters team, Bradley explained that weighing up his busy schedule meant he had to think hard before taking up the managerial reigns at Ballinamullan ahead of the campaign.
“ There is a very good team there. With me coming in so late on I have so many other work commitments and I am involved with other clubs at the minute helping train them. It is a time issue for me but obviously Killyclogher deserve all my time so its about trying to do the best I can.
“ But I have great support. Terry McCann would come in an odd night and take a training session as does Dermy Carlin so it’s about the whole club rowing in and helping.”
While Killyclogher’s challenge is still backboned by experienced campaigners such as the McCann brothers, Mark Bradley and Emmet McFadden, the emergence of a new batch of exciting youngsters in Gavin Potter, Michael Rafferty and Cormac McGettigan, among others, suggests a bright future lies ahead.
Bradley states that he isn’t fazed about giving youth its fling, especially with the number of absentees they have had to cope with ahead of the summer break.
“ There were three players at eighteen years of age playing against Omagh with another coming on at the end. It’s about getting young lads used to that standard of football. Stepping up into senior football is a lot heavier pace especially in Tyrone. It’s about breaking them in.”
Killyclogher have lost just the one match so far and Eoghan admits that they could well be unbeaten at this stage of the season.
“ We were beaten by Donaghmore. I suppose any day you hit 2-17 you usually win the game but we lost by a point. So that was disappointing. But we have had a lot of men away. I know it’s the same for a lot of teams. I was chatting to the Ardboe fellas last week and they were the same.
” I think we had the guts of nine men on holidays at different times over the last few weeks, as well as other things happening. It’s just about getting boys back. We are thankful now we have the break and after that everyone will be back and committed again.”
While last Thursday’s league meeting with Omagh was something of a dress rehearsal for September’s Championship first round clash between the sides, Bradley refused to read anything into the outcome.
“ We are no illusions that Omagh will be much changed come the Championship. In eight or nine weeks time it will be a completely different team there and a completely different game.
“ Omagh and Killyclogher know each other inside out so this was just about getting two league points and moving on into the break.”
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