Break gave Killyclogher a breather at the right time – Bradley

WITH a hectic workload leaving them with little option but to reluctantly forego any league title ambitions, Killyclogher’s sole focus now is on their Championship derby showdown with Omagh.

Four ACL matches in a week, allied to the Reserves successful run to the knockout final, left St Mary’s to weigh up their priorities, which meant essentially fielding a third string side against Errigal Ciaran in their last league tie of the season, with the inevitable consequences.

Errigal strolled to a mammoth victory to secure their spot in the Division One semi-finals, and eliminated Killyclogher from the reckoning in the process, as they ended up fifth.

Team captain Mark Bradley admitted that it was unfortunate to pass up on an opportunity for silverware after producing a decent league campaign over the summer months, but he stressed that they were left with no real alternative.

“We had targeted the league at the start of the year but we didn’t know where we were going to end up. So just with having four games in a week, we had a few injuries and the Reserves match went to extra-time on the Wednesday so they were preparing for the final.

“ It was a case of just trying to monitor boys and our workload and hoping everyone got through without any more injuries.

“ It has been a really busy period and we also had the Eglish match refixed for the Friday night so you were looking at four games in a week. It just wasn’t possible to target every single one of them and go 100 mile an hour.

“ Overall It has been an encouraging league. We finished just outside the top four after the last game but we still had lots of positives to take from it, though loads to work on going into the Championship.”

After such an arduous schedule of games Bradley feels that the mini-break ahead of the Championship came at just the right time for the St Mary’s squad.

“ The matches have been non-stop and don’t get me wrong that is great too for players but I suppose for the management they want to get working on things and we have these couple of weeks to prepare now for the Championship. It will be all systems go for the first round.”

Thirty year old Bradley is still one of the best attackers in the business in the County and would dearly love another crack at the Championship. It is eight years (2016) since the O’Neill Cup last took up residence at Ballinamullan, though Mark adds that any sort of win is their chief objective right now.

“ For us it has been a while since we had a win in the Championship. So the focus really is just on getting past the first round because it is three or four years since we had a win. That is going to be our first target and hopefully we can take it from there.”

And he is relishing the prospect of going up against neighbours Omagh this Sunday afternoon, one of a  litany of eye-catching derby ties being served up in the first round.

“ We know each other very well and plenty of the lads would be friendly with each other. If it’s anything like the Reserve game it should be a good game, full of intensity.

“ They found a bit of form and momentum halfway through the season and that seems to be the case in Division One. If you can find a bit of momentum you can start picking up points and move up the table.

“ All we are doing is looking towards Omagh in the first game. We would be foolish to look any further down the line. We have had plenty of run-ins with them. It has been a while since we played them in the Championship so we are looking forward to it.”