The best lessons you can learn on a hurling pitch are usually the ones that end in defeat, with a special place reserved for the late, agonising losses sustained with the finish line in sight.
Bredagh had to take notes from those sorts of lessons too often for their liking in 2023, when an injury-time goal relegated them from Division Two of the Antrim league and a point in stoppage time knocked them out of the Ulster intermediate championship.
As a teacher at St Joseph‘s College in the heart of Bredagh’s south Belfast home, every day is about getting lessons to stick for manager Donal Sheehan, and the way Bredagh survived their Ulster opener against Burt earned full marks from the boss. Level heading into injury-time, having been pegged back by the Donegal champions, three of the last four points sent Bredagh through to Sunday’s semi-final clash with Derry champions Swatragh.
“Burt were a good side, I was really impressed with them. Going into the last five minutes anybody could have won that game,” said Sheehan.
“Last year we played Creggan in the Ulster quarter-final when they went six up a couple of times, we came back again both times, then it was level going into injury-time.
“Unfortunately for us Creggan went up and got the final point, so we learned that hard lesson then.
“Going into the last five minutes against Burt it was brilliant to see the lads had the resilience, the grit. A couple of years ago we might have folded at that stage but we didn’t, we fought back.”
After achieving their first 2024 goal in impressive style, losing just one dead rubber match at the end of a successful Division Three promotion campaign, there were more tough – entirely expected – lessons in the Down senior championship.
But, again, Sheehan says they came out the other side the stronger for it. While there were heavy defeats to Portaferry, Ballygalget and Ballycran, they did manage a one-point win over Liatroim and then avenged their SHC group stage loss to Carryduff when the sides met again after dropping into the intermediate competition. That final victory saw Bredagh claim the IHC for the second year in-a-row at the expense of their neighbours.
“We lost six boys from last year who were away on their travels, mostly to Australia, so we had to bring a lot of young fellas in and they stepped up in the league for us,” said Sheehan.
“But when it came to the championship and you’re playing the Ards teams, and even Liatroim too who are a strong team who have come on leaps and bounds in the last two years – that was a great win for us – we got a hard lesson in some of those games.
“But we feel we did learn from it and it’ll do the young players good to take those beatings, learn from them, then move on from them.”
Sunday’s opponents in Ahoghill, Swatragh, came though similar championship setup in Derry where all clubs play first in the senior championship which ends up deciding their gradings further down the line.
Swatragh reached the senior semi-final where they lost to Banagher, then beat Kevin Lynch’s in the intermediate final before their Ulster win over Fermanagh side Lisbellaw.
“Swatragh are a super team,” said Sheehan.
“When a lot of us saw that Kevin Lynch’s were going into the intermediate championship they were everybody’s favourites to win Ulster, never mind Derry, so it was a huge scalp to take for Swatragh.
“Right now, if we could go into the last five minutes against Swatragh a point or two behind we’d take it because we know how tough it’s going to be.”
