Broken collarbone confirmed for Bradley
Broken collarbone confirmed for Bradley
By Arthur Sullivan
Christopher Bradley, one of Slaughtneil's main men, looks set to miss the All-Ireland SFC Club final after x-rays confirmed he suffered a broken collarbone in the latter stages of his side's win over Austin Stacks at the weekend.
Bradley, the hero of Slaughtneil's Ulster final win and one of their leading attacking threats against the Kerry champions, was felled by a very powerful shoulder from Kieran Donaghy towards the end of the game.
The shoulder appeared to be legitimate, and Austin Stacks were awarded the free as Bradley was deemed to have fouled the ball as a result of Donaghy's challenge. The incident came at a decisive stage of the match, but Shane Carroll missed the resulting free, which would have almost certainly taken the game into extra-time, and Slaughtneil won by a point.
However, the sheer force of Donaghy's shoulder had a major physical impact on Bradley, and it's believed that he broke the collarbone on the opposite side when he hit the ground following the challenge.
Bradley may not require surgery - broken collarbones can heal by themselves, and the situation is helped by the fact that it's reportedly "a clean break" - but he is likely to be out of action for up to two months or more. This means he will almost certainly miss Slaughtneil's date at Croke Park with Galway champions Corofin on March 17, and that is a big blow for Mickey Moran's side as Bradley has arguably been their best player in their remarkable run to the All-Ireland final.
He hit two points in their county final win over Ballinderry in October, and set up Gerald Bradley's decisive winning goal in the last minute. The flame-haired Bradley went on to enjoy an excellent Ulster campaign, hitting 0-3 from play against Cavan Gaels in the quarter-final before hitting the crucial goal in the semi-final against Clontibret.
He secured hero status in Slaughtneil forever more with his heroics in the Ulster final against Omagh, hitting 0-4 from play including a stunning winner in the second minute of injury time and he had given another typically dynamic display against Stacks before being forced off with his injury, hitting 0-3 from play.
Bradley, who has not played senior inter-county football before, is expected to be called into Brian McIver's Derry panel at some stage in 2015, although for now, he will be doing everything he possibly can to be involved in some way in Slaughtneil's date with destiny on St Patrick's Day.
