In Slaughtneil’s 13-point Ulster title win, Cormac O’Doherty – a self-proclaimed veteran of the side – contributed ten points, eight from frees, at the Box-It Athletic Grounds on Saturday evening.<\/p>\n
Despite being the better team on paper, the Derry champions were only four points clear at half-time,<\/a> which man of the match O’Doherty put down to missed chances.<\/p>\n “We knew what the battle of St John’s was going to bring to us and the first half was just a real dogfight and we were probably four up at half-time and we missed a lot of chances,” O’Doherty told RT\u00c9 Sport.<\/p>\n The Maghera outfit kicked on in the second half. St John’s battled well but were unable to break down Slaughtneil’s defence.<\/p>\n Despite controlling the game, it took until midway through the second half before Slaughtneil pressed home their advantage, which O’Doherty attributed to multiple scorers “chipping in”.<\/p>\n Focus now turns to their All-Ireland run, with a semi-final against Loughrea from Galway on 20 December the first step in claiming a first-ever final berth in the competition.<\/p>\n “I thought when it came to it in the second half we kicked on really well, different people chipping in with scores and it’s a massive result tonight, another Ulster Championship, but we know we’ve got to go another level now in three weeks.”<\/p>\n Cormac O’Doherty is awarded man of the match for his 10-point contribution to Slaughtneil’s defence of their Ulster Club title.<\/p>\n ‘That’s the way we have always been brought up, playing hurling and football. It’s just so special to play for our club and represent our club.’ pic.twitter.com\/R3AiiBgGlT<\/a><\/p>\n