Slaughtneil ease their way into a 12th successive Derry senior hurling final

Kevin Lynch’s 0-14

Slaughtneil eased their way into a 12th successive Derry senior hurling final against Kevin Lynch’s on Sunday afternoon.

The champions were without top scorer Cormac O’Doherty and Sean Cassidy but once they found the groove, they never looked in touble.

Kevin Lynch’s got to within five points in the middle of the second half but will rue a host of wides to put a bigger dent in the Emmet’s lead.

In a feisty game, Kevin Lynch’s failed to take any of their goal chances as goalkeeper Oisin O’Doherty always had the answers.

It was Darragh McGilligan hope opened the scoring, the only time Kevin Lynch’s led in the game.

The sides were level three times in the first 13 minutes before Jack Cassidy gave them a lead they never lost.

When Ruairí Ó Mianáin and Eamon Cassidy gave Paul McCormack’s men a 0-6 to 0-3 lead, they never looked back.

Slaughtneil were 0-14 to 0-7 ahead by half-time with some excellent long-range shooting, with Shane McGuigan landing four points in all.

Kevin Lynch’s had their best goal chance with seven minutes to go when John  Mullan was robbed brilliant by the flock of goalkeeper O’Doherty’s hurl.

A goal would’ve made it 0-19 to 1-11. But it wasn’t to be as the champions kept their grip on the game to book a final spot against Banagher.

Scorers:

Slaughtneil: Jack Cassidy 0-9 (7f, 1 65), Shane McGuigan 0-4, Eamon Cassidy, Ruairí Ó Mianáin, Sé McGuigan 0-2 each, Conor Coyle, Brendan Rogers and Shea Cassidy 0-1 each

Kevin Lynch’s: Richie Mullan 0-7f, Sean Kelly (3f), Darragh McGilligan (2f) 0-3 each and Shéa McKeever 0-1

Oisin O’Doherty; Paul McNeill, Ruairi McCartney, Fionn McEldowney; Ruairí Ó Mianáin, Conor Coyle, Shane McGuigan; Jack Cassidy, Meehaul McGrath; Mark McGuigan, Sé McGuigan, Gerald Bradley; Eamon Cassidy, Brendan Rogers, Shéa Cassidy

Subs: None used

Kevin Lynch’s: Sean Kelly; Jack Dunne, Paddy Kelly, Eoin McKeever; Thomas Brady, Richie Mullan, Mark Craig; Shéa McKeever, Darragh McGilligan; Corey O’Reilly, Niall Ferris, Darragh Mullan; Odhrán McElhinney, John Mullan, Ronan Mullan

Subs: Stephen O’Neill for O’Reilly (28), Niall McGonagle for McElhinney (36)

Referee: Aidan McAleer (St Finbarr’s)