A sparkling display of finishing power by Cormac O’Doherty – he scored 0-9 in all – carried Slaughtneil to their 12th consecutive Derry Senior Hurling Championship title at the expense of a disappointing Banagher outfit.
Slaughtneil slipped into their rhythm in the early stages of the first-half when they gained a foothold at midfield and created a series of scoring chances.
Banagher, in contrast, were forced onto the back foot and found themselves severely restricted in terms of scoring chances.
It was Slaughtneil who were quickly off the mark with points from the majestic O’Doherty, Ruairi Ó Miaináin and Jack Cassidy.
It was the vastly experienced O’Doherty who gave Slaughtneil a more solid footing in the game when he whipped over two points from frees, while Brendan Rogers and Shane McGuigan also contributed points to leave their side in a comfortable 0-8 to 0-2 half-time lead, with Darragh Cartin and Fintan McGilligan having posted scores for Banagher.
Slaughtneil maintained their impetus in the second-half with O’Doherty further underpinning his accuracy and Sé McGuigan and Ruairi Ó Miaináin continuing their momentum.
Callum O’Kane and Darragh Cartin managed to pilfer points for Banagher but, despite the heroic efforts of Gabriel Farren and Rory McCluskey in defence, they were unable to come to grips with the champions’ scoring power.
Slaughtneil scorers: C O’Doherty 0-9 (7f); Sé McGuigan, R O Mianáin (0-2); J Cassidy, B Rogers, Shane McGuigan (0-1).
Banagher scorers: D Cartin (0-2); C O’Kane, F McGilligan (0-1).