Bradley’s title craving

If he ends his career without winning an Ulster title, Paddy Bradley says it will ‘haunt’ him forever.

Individual awards and accolades are one thing; league medals are another. But the one he wants has eluded him throughout the 12 summers he has given to Derry.

There are always players who never win the titles their talent deserves and right now, as he prepares to play in his 50th championship match against Donegal in Ballybofey this evening, Bradley falls into that category.

“As players, we are all judged by what we win as a team and not by what we won as individuals,” he said.

“It is fantastic the individual awards I have, Ulster All Stars, a national All Star, scoring trophies, man of the match awards, they are all great but at the end of the day when people get around to talking about your career, they will ask how many Ulster titles did you win with Derry.

“It is nice to have won two National League medals. It is brilliant and there are lots of people who would give their right arm for a National League medal, but at the end of the day it is all about championship football and, sadly, I haven’t won any medal playing with Derry in the championship.

“There is always that burning ambition to try and win an Ulster title and that will still always haunt me, that we haven’t won one of them.”

Bradley was 18 when he played in the 2000 Ulster final defeat by Armagh. Having seen the success Derry enjoyed in the Nineties, winning an All-Ireland and two Ulster titles, he felt sure the good times would continue.

He admitted: “It just has not turned out like that.

“It probably would haunt me, given the players that I have played along with.

“You can roll the names off the tongue; Enda Muldoon, Kevin McGuckin, Kevin McCloy, Fergal Doherty, Johnny McBride, Paul McFlynn, Sean Marty Lockhart, the list goes on.

“How we didn’t win an Ulster title just shows you how hard it is to win.

“Those players would get on any team in Ireland and now they have all gone, bar myself and [goalkeeper] Barry Gillis.

“We are the last of the older generation. How long I can go on for, I don’t know.

“But hopefully before I do finish, there will be one Ulster title.”

The dreaded curse of the cruciate ruled Bradley out of the championship last year and when his brother Eoin suffered the same fate before the Ulster final it meant neither of them got to play in the final against Donegal.

It was the first time Paddy had missed any championship matches due to injury and, considering the brilliant form he had been in during the league in 2011, it was a bitter blow.

Fair to say, then, that he is hungrier than ever to have an extended championship run after being forced to sit out last year. And appreciative, too, that at this stage of his career, it’s important to relish every game.

“I’m mad keen looking forward to playing against Donegal and just hoping everything goes right for me, because whenever you get an injury like I got last year — right before the championship — it really knocks you for six,” he said.

“I was really disappointed to miss the championship considering the form I was in.

“You don’t know if you are going to come back stronger, if the knee is going to hold up. It’s nearly as if I think I’m on borrowed time or something. You never know when something might happen again.

“You do play as if it could be your last game because you just don’t know when that’s round the corner.”

Bradley alluded to the row he had with previous manager Damien Cassidy in 2010, which prompted him to announce his retirement prematurely, as another reason why he is more focused than ever.

“It’s all water under the bridge now, but I was disappointed with how I was treated and I left.

“Last year I came back very, very focused. I’d say it was the most focused I’d been in quite a number of years.

“I was doing unreal training and was probably in the shape of my life. Maybe the cruciate went because I was doing too much, I don’t know.

“But it’s all about Donegal now. We have produced some fantastic performances in Ulster over the years and showed that we can mix it with anybody, but at the same time, on a lot of occasions we have let ourselves down.

“It’s important that we show up and bring our A game this time.”