Principles require total commitment to county cause

Exactly a decade ago, I was in Ballinascreen on the day Eoin Bradley broke his leg playing for Derry in the Dr McKenna Cup.

It was only Bradley’s second game for the county. He was 21.

And it was a horrific injury. Rushed to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, there were complications during the operation. The surgeon was forced to open Bradley’s calf muscles on both sides. Pressure had to be released, otherwise he might have lost his leg. A plasterer by trade, he was out of work for nearly nine months.