Boss Bradley coy on Saffrons future

ANTRIM football boss Liam Bradley won’t say whether he wants to continue as manager for another 12 months, despite a superb first season at the helm.

Bradley, father of Derry stars Paddy and Eoin, was appointed for a three-year term last October, with a review at the end of each year. But, as well as securing promotion to Division Three in the National League, Bradley steered Antrim to their first Ulster senior football final since 1970 this season.

Antrim were beaten by Tyrone but then put up a tremendous performance against Kerry in the All-Ireland qualifiers, losing by just five points.

It would seem only a formality for Bradley to be re-appointed, but he said yesterday: “I’d rather not comment about my position until I meet the members of the Antrim board.

“Overall, with the exception of the Ulster final against Tyrone, I was very satisfied with how things went for the team this year. But there are a few things that need to be ironed out before I make any decision about my future.

“Regardless of who is in charge of the Antrim football team for the next three or four years, I am confident they will build on the progress that has been made this year.”

Reflecting on Antrim’s championship campaign, Bradley said: “It was good to beat Donegal and Cavan, but it was disappointing that we let ourselves down against Tyrone.

“But it was a learning experience for the lads, and it’s surely something that will stand them in good stead over the next few years.

“Against Kerry, instead of being one point down at half-time, we should have been six or seven points up at that stage based on the number of scoring chances that we had in the first half.

“And it was a real sucker punch when Kerry got their second goal just eight minutes from time, as it was very difficult to mount a comeback at that late stage of the match.

“Obviously, we were very disappointed with the result, but when you see what Kerry did to Dublin on Monday (1-24 to 1-7), I suppose that it puts a more favourable gloss on our performance against Kerry.”

Bradley, who is now assisting Glenullin manager Dermot McNicholl to prepare his native club for the Derry SFC quarter-final on August 16, says he wasn’t that surprised that the Kingdom handed out such a drubbing to the Dubs.

“I felt that Dublin were an overrated team as, with the exception of Kildare, the quality of the opposition they faced in the Leinster Championship wasn’t great,” explained Bradley, who is heading off next week for a holiday in Tenerife.

“And I believed that Kerry were like Tyrone in last year’s championship – they were doing just enough to win their matches in the qualifiers. And it’s well known that Kerry love playing in Croke Park.”