KILLYCLOGHER had the inside information, but they were still unable to break the Slaughtneil code.
Coach John McElholm and defender Eoghan Bradley both spent time within the Emmet’s camp in recent seasons, gaining access to many of the secrets of this great club’s remarkable success.
Bradley was strength and conditioning coach when Slaughtneil won the Ulster title two years ago, but on Sunday he turned against old friends as the Tyrone champions attempted to reach first Ulster Club SFC final.
He held namesake Paul Bradley scoreless from play, but the centre-forward’s five converted frees, along with Meehaul McGrath’s goal, sent the Derry champions through to a second decider in three years.
“You have to be at your best to beat Slaughtneil. I know them inside-out, I was with them this last two years and they’re a fantastic team,” said Bradley.
“I spent two years with them, and they are a fantastic bunch of lads, they really are. I suppose if we’re to get beat by anybody, it’s good that it’s them. They’re a fantastic club, and that’s what we try to be, that’s what we try to emulate, and we went out to try and beat them.”
Once the final whistle sounded at the Athletic Grounds, a bitterly disappointed Bradley instantly restored his allegiance to the club where he spent two enjoyable seasons pushing a group of driven footballers to the peak of their physical condition.
“I hope they do go on and get another Ulster, they deserve it. I know the work these boys put in," he added.
“They probably didn’t represent themselves as well in the All-Ireland final [losing to Corofin last year] as I thought they could have, but I hope they go on and do it.”
Slaughtneil’s experience at provincial level was crucial as they swept to a 1-11 to 0-8 win over a Killyclogher team appearing in a semi-final for the first time. But Bradley felt this was a game the St Mary’s could have won, had they played to their potential.
“I’d love to have got the chance to get into an Ulster final. I still think we could have beat them if we had played, but it just didn’t go for us," he said.
“We were a bit below par. We’re usually this fast-breaking team, but we were a bit off.”
Once they secured a relatively comfortable lead with McGrath’s 33rd minute goal, the Oak Leaf men starved their opponents of possession with disciplined ball retention and support play.
It was a well-rehearsed strategy superbly executed by Mickey Moran’s side, and came as no surprise to the Kilyclogher centre-back: “They’re a hard team to beat when they get ahead, because they are so disciplined in their tackling, they don’t make many mistakes,” he said.
Former Derry, Sligo and Mayo boss Moran had left no stone unturned in his forensic analysis of Sunday’s opponents. And he got all the match-ups spot-on, snuffing out the threat of Killyclogher’s main men, including Tiernan McCann and Mark Bradley, who scored just once from play.
“Mickey doesn’t leave any stone unturned, he goes over it five times and then he’ll check it over again. He’s fantastic at doing that," he said.
“But we had our homework done as well, Dom [manager Dominic Corrigan] covered every angle. You can do all the homework you want, but when the day comes, it’s 15 against 15. In fairness they played brilliant.”
Veteran Bradley, who was a member of the team that won Killyclogher’s only previous Tyrone title in 2003, has no thoughts of retirement, and plans to return for another big challenge in 2017.
“The body is holding up, I have no injuries. I’ll see, with work and time, but I love it, and it’s hard to walk away from it. I’ll go as long as the body keeps holding out.”
