Doherty wary of Bradley brothers

DONEGAL manager John Joe Doherty says it’s vital that his defence snuffs out the massive attacking threat posed by the two Bradley brothers.

Doherty’s troops host arch rivals and next-door neighbours Derry in the third round of the All-Ireland Qualifiers’ tomorrow at Ballybofey, with the opposition’s twin strike force of Paddy and Eoin Bradley very much on fire.

In last Saturday’s win over Monaghan, at Clones, the Glenullin duo contributed a whopping 2-11 of Derry’s 3-16 total, with Paddy supplying 2-8, and Eoin 0-3.

“The two Bradley boys are playing great stuff at the moment, and if we allow them too much space and time on the ball, they will punish us in a big way,” said Doherty.

“As well as scoring a lot themselves, they have a great understanding

between the two of them, and they’re also very good at setting up the other forwards for scores.

“So if we could limit the threat of the two Bradleys to a reasonable degree, it would certainly boost our prospects of winning the game.

“Obviously, that’s not going to be easy, but we’ve got to ensure that the Bradleys have to work extremely hard for any possession or for any scores that they may get.”

In contrast to Derry’s solid performance in overcoming Monaghan for the second time in this year’s championship campaign, Donegal found it difficult enough to prevail against a Clare side, who had played in Division Four this year.

Clare had what Banner County boss Frank Doherty’s called a “legitimate goal” disallowed, but yet only finished 1-7 to 0-13 adrift of the North West outfit.

“A repeat of our performance against Clare certainly won’t do against Derry,” stressed 1992 All-Ireland medal winner Doherty.

“Our general play last Saturday was very unsatisfactory, and our ball-handling and our level of intensity was just not up to scratch.

“In contrast to ourselves, Derry have been one of the form teams in the Qualifiers, and I would see them as being one of the main contenders for the All-Ireland.”

Donegal’s prospects have not been helped by the fact that team captain Christy Toye has been ruled out the game after rupturing his achilles tendon in the game against Clare.

However, Doherty is hoping that the fact that his side will enjoy home advantage will be worth a few points as they attempt to gain revenge for the league defeat last April by Damien Cassidy’s charges which sealed their relegation fate to Division Two.

“There was a time when it was very rare for visiting teams to go away from MacCumhaill Park with a win under their belt,” he pointed out.

“So hopefully on Saturday we will start the process of that being the case once again.”