By Kieran Lynch

BREDAGH have made a flying start to their 2022 season, as they sit four points clear at the top of the Down Division Two league table, with eight wins in their opening 10 games.

Despite playing their championship football at the senior grade, Bredagh have been stuck in the second tier of the league for a number of years now, and consequently, they have targeted a successful league campaign this season, as they look for promotion.

“We have started well this season, which is a nice change, because we had made a bad habit of getting off to poor starts in past years,” explained Simon Francis who, in addition to being a part of the senior management team, acts as the football secretary for the club.

“We won our first six games and this year we made the league our highest priority, because we’ve wanting to and trying to get promoted to Division One for a number of years now, and we feel like this year could be the time to do it, with the squad that we have available to us.”

Francis is one of a number of people who have been involved with the senior team for many years now, and he believes a big part of the success that the team are enjoying now owes to giving manager Brendan Mason the time to develop his team and ideas, as well as bringing the experienced Frank Dawson on board two years ago.

“I’ve been involved in the club for 20 years, and with the senior team for seven years,” said Francis.

“It’s our manager Brendan Mason’s fourth season, along with Martin Duncan who has been involved as a selector for that time, and it’s Frank Dawson’s second year.

“Like every club, we review things on an ongoing basis, and we have definitely seen Brendan’s qualities over the last few years and have been happy to keep him in charge.

“With Brendan and Frank it’s a bit of good cop, bad cop; Brendan puts an arm around the player, whilst Frank will tell it to them straight.”

Much of Bredagh’s scores this season have come from the boot of hot prospect Emmett Rodgers who, despite only making the jump from minor to senior this season, has hit the ground running, and is already a star player at corner-forward.

Joe Shields is another player who is having a great start to the season. A midfielder who gets up and down the pitch, he has provided plenty of scores from both play and frees. Then in the full-back line, Tim Cunningham and Conor Hannigan are two strong forwards who don’t give many forwards an inch, and have also been key to the Belfast club’s brilliant start to the year.