Glenavon will have to do without their main man for six matches.
Star striker Eoin Bradley has been handed a six-game suspension for a head-butting offence during a clash with Crusaders on February 12 in the IFA Premiership.
After a coming-together with Crues captain Colin Coates, Bradley received a straight red card from referee Raymond Hetherington during that 1-1 draw with the league leaders.
Glenavon are currently sitting fourth in the table and they have the Derry man to thank for a lot of their success, ‘Skinner’ finding the net 17 times already in the league – the second highest in the Northern Ireland top table.
Having knocked around with Ballymoney United in the GAA off-season, Bradley soon got picked up by Coleraine in 2013 and was originally planning on playing through the winter until commitments with Derry resumed.
His success has been meteoric though and, in just his third season playing football in the Irish League – at the age of 32 – he’s one of the top hitmen in the country.
The Glenullin full forward was initially left out of the Oak Leaf panel as a result of his soccer obligations but Brian McIver recalled Derry’s most lethal attacker last season and Bradley played a key role once more in the championship. But new manager Damian Barton has opted to plan without him for 2016 and Glenavon have been reaping the rewards of his sole focus.
They will have to make do without him now for six games though and Bradley admits that it’s “hard to take.”
6 game ban..il have to take it on the chin..hard to take but he got me good..disappointed for the boys and the fans#hardtotake
— eoinbradley (@skinnerlad) February 23, 2016
And his brother Paddy had a little dig at Coates for his role in the sending off and subsequent suspension.
@skinnerlad Did anyone ever find out who the sniper who shot Coates was?
— Paddy Bradley (@PaddyB14) February 23, 2016
The six-game suspension will leave Bradley sidelined until April.
Freeing him up for the rest of Derry’s five Division Two games… Just saying!
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