The wheel keeps turning. Only last month, Paddy Bradley was on the Donegal sideline trying to figure out the best way of beating his native Derry.
As a proud son of Derry and one of the county’s greatest ever forwards, it wasn’t an easy task. But his remit at that point in time was to take Donegal as far as possible in the championship. Ultimately, Derry won the round-robin contest and both teams advanced to the knock-out stages.
Despite the issues on and off the field in Donegal, Bradley enjoyed his time there and feels the county can challenge for major honours again very soon.
“I think if Donegal can get all their players back and everyone moving in the right direction, I don’t see any reason why they can’t be pushing for at least an Ulster title, if not be All-Ireland competitors next year,” he says.
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But if Donegal’s season is over, Derry’s has now reached its greatest test – an All-Ireland semi-final against defending champions Kerry.
The Kingdom enter the game as 1-3 favourites, but Bradley – who managed the Derry under-20s in 2021 and 2022 – knows enough about the current senior group to feel they have a genuine shot this weekend.
“I’m not saying it’s 50-50, obviously Kerry are a formidable side with a forward line like no other and they are the All-Ireland champions, but there have been inconsistencies in their play this year,” he says.
“A big thing for me is the matchups, midfield is going to be massive. The Kerry midfield is formidable, but I think Derry are arguably the best midfield in the country.
“Conor Glass is a fantastic leader and someone who plays that cover role in defence really well, puts out so many fires because his positional sense is excellent and Brendan Rogers is a real Rolls-Royce of a player in terms of someone who breaks lines, wins free-kicks, kicks scores.
“Derry have pace all over the pitch and I think if they can use that pace in the spaces of Croke Park I give them a massive chance. I do think they are going to have to score a goal or goals though.”
If midfield does indeed prove to be a pivotal area, the containment of David Clifford is also likely to be crucial if Derry are to spring a surprise.
There is a feeling Chrissy McKaigue will be given the task of stopping Clifford producing an array of magic tricks.
“I think he’s the only person capable of the match up,” says Bradley.
“I think Chrissy is the man to mark him. Muscle memory comes in a lot here at this point, the years that Chrissy has on him, Chrissy is still one of the best in the business.
“His positional sense, having marked him whenever he came on to the scene, Chrissy is very hard to get away from, his tackling is superb.
“You’re never going to fully shut David Clifford down, but I think if he can limit him to two or three points from play and keep the goals out, I think that will go a long way for Derry having a chance to win the game.”
Derry’s season almost fell apart because of the controversy surrounding then manager Rory Gallagher in the days leading up to the Ulster final. Gallagher eventually stepped down following the allegations by his former wife, Nicola, of domestic abuse.
Bradley believes strong leadership by core players saved Derry’s championship.
“I think all good teams are player-led and I think what we have seen is that exact thing in Derry,” explains Bradley.
“You go through the spine of the team, McKaigue, Gareth McKinless, Conor Glass, Brendan Rogers, Shane McGuigan – these are all leaders.
“They have all played significant roles around their clubs in the last few years, and good teams are player-led and things like that don’t really derail them.
“Another big thing for me was that Ciarán Meenagh would know these boys inside-out, he’s been there under a different management team and he’s now obviously manager himself.
“He’s a different type of manager, he’s not as vocal on the line, but I think he’s steadied the ship really well and I think all credit needs to go to the leaders in the group for that to be able to happen.”
No matter how events play out on Sunday, Bradley believes these are exciting times for Derry football.
Derry won the Ulster under-20 title in 2018 and contested the provincial final at that grade in 2019 and 2023. They also won two of the last four All-Ireland minor championships – 2020 and 2023.
“They have been in seven of the last nine Ulster minor finals,” says Bradley. “There is a serious amount of work going on with the development squads. Chris Collins heads that up, they are very well organised.
“The schools are coming strong again and then with the clubs you have Slaughtneil, who for six or seven years were winning at Ulster and national level, and then obviously Glen came through last year.
“We see these under-20s sides and All-Ireland-winning minor sides coming through as well, so Derry football is in rude health.”
The wheel keeps turning. Kerry await.
– AIB ambassador Paddy Bradley was speaking ahead of this weekend’s All-Ireland SFC semi-finals.
