Bradley puts pep back in Derry step

WINNING a provincial semi-final is no place to declare a famine is over but a millstone was lifted from the neck of Derry football yesterday.

A decade of provincial despair was firmly put behind them as they qualified for their first Ulster final since 2000. The convincing manner in which they did it will have plenty believing they could bridge the gap to the last time they held aloft the Anglo-Celt Cup in 1998.

Certainly, if Eoin Bradley is given as much freedom by Tyrone or Donegal on July 20 as he was here they will have plenty more reason to cheer. He was scintillating yesterday, continuing the rich vein of form his family has shown in championship fare in Clones.