Slaughtneil 1-17 Middletown 0-08
Two-time Ulster hurling champions Slaughtneil romped to victory over Armagh champions Middletown in Sunday's Ulster club semi-final in the Athletic Grounds.
The outcome was rarely in doubt after the Derry kingpins raced into an 0-08 to 0-01 lead after 15 minutes with Cormac O'Doherty responsible for all bar one of the scores.
Middletown grew into the game a little from then but Se McGuigan's goal moments before half-time pushed the lead out again.
David Carvill struck all of the Armagh champions' first-half points, lobbing over the first from play on 30 minutes, leaving the score at 1-09 to 0-05 at the break.
The margin was stretched out further in the third quarter with points from Brian Cassidy, Brendan Rodgers and Gerald Bradley.
The game was already settled as a contest when Middletown sharpshooter Carvill was banished with a second yellow card with 10 remaining.
Dunloy 2-23 Ballycran 0-11
Ulster hurling aristocrats Dunloy returned to the club hurling decider for the first time since 2009 with a resounding victory over reigning champions Ballycran in the second game of today's double header in the Athletic Grounds.
Dunloy, who won 10 Ulster championships between 1990 and 2009, will now meet the formidable Slaughtneil in an intriguing decider.
The Antrim champions got off to a quick start and hardly let up. They raced into a 0-05 to 0-02 lead before Conal Cunning's deflected 10th minute goal opened a substantial gap. The Dunloy attacker's shot was half-blocked, wrong-footing the keeper and dribbling slowly into the corner.
Cunning landed 1-04 in the opening half with the rest of Dunloy's scoring tally nicely spread. Seven different players chipped in on the scoreboard as they led 1-11 to 0-07 at the break.
The Down champions were reliant on Conor Woods who landed five of their seven scores. Ballycran hung in there early in the second half without eating into Dunloy's lead in a real sense.
And from the 40th minute on, Dunloy kicked for home. Nigel Elliott and Cunning were especially prominent as Dunloy's lead sailed into the double figures.
Nicky McKeague tagged on their last point before Anton McGrath ensured they finished with the flourish rifling a low shot to the corner from just outside the 21-metre line.
18 points was the margin in the finish as Ballycran surrendered their title.
