Derry City's Celtic Park move is 'short-term' pain for long-term gain says Stephen Bradley
STEPHEN Bradley refused to dwell on the state of the Celtic Park pitch after Shamrock Rovers' first loss in two months, accepting that it's a case of 'short-term pain for long-term gain'.
The installation of a state-of-the-art grass hybrid pitch at Brandywell is expected to make Derry City's traditional home one of the most elite in the country when they return on June 26th after a short sojourn at the home of their GAA neighbours 400 yards up the street.
Until then Derry will look to make the most of a ground that has already proven to be a huge success story both on and off the pitch, offering ample space to entertain and a 1-0 victory over Rovers that will surely whet the appetite for more.
Bradley also sees the 'bigger picture' knowing the improvements at Brandywell will only serve to enhance the League of Ireland as a whole, especially since he was one of those who strongly lobbied for a change from the Lone Moor Road ground's astroturf.
The pitch at Celtic Park isn't designed for a game of soccer and it was sandy and bobbly in parts which forced Bradley into a re-think of his tactical approach to the match.
“The reason you don’t have a moan about the pitch is because we know it’s short term," said Bradley afterward. “We know it’s for the bigger picture of what they’re getting in the Brandywell, which is going to help the league as a whole.
“So that’s why. If this were the normal pitch, obviously for me it’s different. But they’re here for five games and hopefully then The Brandywell is ready to go.”
The Rovers boss will lick his wounds but he doesn't think there's too much to learn from the contest: “I don’t think there’s much to learn. I don’t think we’ve ever played like that before in terms of playing as many long balls, direct balls, I’d be interested in the stats.
"We lost and we move on. It was always going to be that game. We knew that coming up here. It was always going to come down to something like that. And when it’s games like this where there’s no real quality, there’s no control, it was always going to be just a moment. It was what it was.”