The champions were just minutes away from picking up a huge victory at the Brandywell to cut the gap on leaders Shelbourne before an injury-time penalty was awarded to Derry after Patrick McEleney went down as he and Josh Honohan challenged for the ball.
Replays showed that there was no contact between Honohan and the Derry midfielder, but Pat Hoban netted the spot kick on 92 minutes to earn a point for his side – in a big boost to their title hopes – now sitting just three points off the top with six games remaining.
But speaking after the draw, Bradley was incensed over Mayo native MacGraith’s decision to award the penalty and also revealed that some Candystripes players admitted afterwards that there was no contact inside the box.
We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity.
“I think it’s disgraceful, a really, really disgraceful decision from the referee,” Bradley told RTÉ sport, with his side now seven points off Shels with six games to play.
“He has ruined what was a really good performance. It’s awful. He is so poor and tonight he has shown it again, a terrible decision.
“I have seen it back. He hasn’t touched him, he literally hasn’t touched him. The key is all the Derry players were coming off and telling you ‘there was no contact, he’s dived’. Patrick himself is telling you that there was no contact. In a game like that, you have to be 100pc sure and there’s no way that you can be sure there. It’s an awful decision.
“These players, they don’t get to be the best team in the country for five years by not having character, a togetherness and a willingness to go and win games. They showed that tonight but it was taken out of their hands. You can’t legislate for that. It’s a disgraceful decision.”
Derry had an earlier penalty shout turned down when Lee Grace blocked Danny Mullen’s cross with his arm. Derry boss Ruaidhri Higgins felt it was a “stonewall” call, saying: “whether it was a penalty (injury-time decision) or it wasn’t, he’s given it. There should have been one before that so we deserved to get a penalty.”
But Bradley added: “His (Grace’s) hand is on the ground, it’s a natural position and they have made that pretty clear, that when it’s a natural position it is no penalty.
The League of Ireland review is here as Dan McDonnell and Seán O’Connor look back on a dramatic night of action at both ends of the table
“I didn’t think it was a penalty. But you can’t try level it up and give something like that in a game like this in the last few minutes. He (MacGraith) is the worst in the league and that tonight is awful.”
Former League of Ireland striker Conan Byrne, who won a Premier Division title and two FAI Cups making over 400 appearances in Ireland, shared Bradley’s frustrations with the controversial decision and felt the lack of sportsmanship from McEleney was “disgraceful”.
“Look, we’ll all be talking about Damien MacGraith, but I’m going to focus on Patrick McEleney. It’s an absolute disgrace,” said Byrne.
“A player of his calibre going down like that in the box for his team to gain an advantage is absolutely disgraceful. My blood is boiling here as a former player, as a competitor, as a sportsperson.
“To see someone go down like that inside the box, it’s just not on. We don’t have VAR, but we have great sportsmanship in this league, great atmospheres and a great buzz. That’s why people come to these games.
“It’s not in the good of the game. We’re all League of Ireland fans, we love the way there is no VAR here, we love the packed out stadiums, we love good sportsmanship, but we didn’t get it tonight.”
