Hurling & Camogie

Victorious Slaughtneil pushed all the way by Kevin Lynch's

Cormac O'Doherty scored the winning point for Slaughtneil on Saturday  
Cormac O'Doherty scored the winning point for Slaughtneil on Saturday   Cormac O'Doherty scored the winning point for Slaughtneil on Saturday   (MARGARET MCLAUGHLIN COPYRIGHT 07)

McGurk Chartered Architects Derry Senior Hurling Championship semi-final: Slaughtneil 1-16 Kevin Lynch’s 1-15 (aet)

HOLDERS Slaughtneil kept their quest for a third successive Derry Senior Championship title on track, but only just after Kevin Lynch’s took them to extra-time in an exciting encounter at Owenbeg on Saturday evening.

Slaughtneil entered the game as odds on favourites, but Kevin Lynch’s did not read the script that cast them as rank outsiders and battled with great tenacity from start-to-finish. Tactically, they set up to make sure Slaughtneil would not plunder goals as they did against Ballinascreen, with Kevin Hinphey outstanding as sweeper and Ciarán O’Kane doing a good marking job on Chrissy McKaigue.

Yet they were almost totally reliant on the free-taking skills of Ciarán Herron for scores, the former Antrim star pointing 12 frees and converting a ninth minute penalty that tied the scores at 0-3 to 1-0. However, while not at their fluent best, Slaughtneil never trailed and scored 1-12 from open play, in contrast to Kevin Lynch’s, who managed just 0-3.

The Emmet’s led 0-7 to 1-3 at half time and looked to be in control when Brendan Rogers took a pass from Jarlath Mulholland in the 33rd minute and blasted the sliotar to the roof of the net for 1-8 to 1-4. However, five frees from Herron narrowed the gap to the minimum in the 58th minute. Kevin Lynch’s had claims for a penalty turned down before Paul Sweeney levelled at 1-10 each, Herron and O’Doherty spurning chances to land a winning point in the final minute.

In the first period of extra-time, Slaughtneil took a 1-15 to 1-11 lead, with Chrissy McKaigue Cormac O’Doherty, Sé McGuigan and Gerald Bradley on target. Again, Kevin Lynch’s fought back to level, but Cormac O’Doherty held his nerve to fire over the winning point in the final minute.

MATCH STATS


Slaughtneil scorers: B Rogers (1-3), C O’Doherty (0-5, 0-4 frees), G Bradley (0-4), S McGuigan (0-3), C McKaigue (0-1).


Kevin Lynch’s scorers: C Herron (1-13, 0-12 frees, 1-0 pen), L Hinphey (0-1), P Sweeney (0-1).