Slaughtneil 3-23 Kevin Lynch's 1-9: Emmet's earn 11th straight Derry hurling title

A hat-trick of goals from Brendan Rogers helped Slaughtneil earn an 11th straight Derry Hurling title as they outclassed Kevin Lynch's 3-23 to 1-9.

The Robert Emmet's outfit hit the opening 10 points before Corey O'Reilly opened the Dungiven side's account.

But Slaughtneil replied with three points before the break to go in 0-13 to 0-1 ahead at Owenbeg.

Rogers netted first on 35 minutes and notched two more green flags either side of Ronan Mullan's Lynch's goal.

Despite being without the likes of Shane McGuigan and Brian Cassidy, while Chrissy McKaigue didn't feature despite being named in the substitutes, Slaughtneil went in as strong favourites against the Dungiven outfit but the contest was even more one-sided than expected as Michael McShane's side completely dominated.

Peter McCullough struck them into the lead after only 15 seconds and a monster score from lively centre half-back Ruairi O'Mianain and Cormac O'Doherty's opening free helped put them six up after 18 minutes.

With the Lynch's having no answer to Slaughtneil's superiority, two more O'Doherty placed balls and scores from Gerald Bradley and McCullough increased their advantage to 0-10 to 0-0 before O'Reilly finally opened the Dungiven club's account in the 29th minute.

Appearing to be almost perturbed at Kevin Lynch's temerity in notching a score, Slaughtneil still had time fire over three straight points before the interval - with two of them coming from Rogers, who was operating in the full-forward line despite wearing the number eight shirt.

Richie Mullan doubled Lynch's account a minute after the restart but after O'Doherty slotted his fourth placed ball, Rogers hammered in Slaughtneil's first goal to emphasise the gulf between the teams.

With the Lynch's defence having no answer to Rogers' pace, his second goal on 40 minutes increased Slaughtneil's lead to 2-16 to 0-3 and while a Ronan Mullan strike cut the margin to 2-17 to 1-5, the Emmet's response was immediate as the dual star completed his hat-trick.

O'Doherty hit four of Slaughtneil's closing six scores - including a late score from play - with O'Mianain also rounding off his final display by notching his third point.

Slaughtneil's hopes of a third successive Ulster title - and fifth provincial triumph in six seasons - were dashed by Dunloy's narrow victory in last year's final.

However, on the evidence of Sunday's game, the Emmet's look in decent nick for another strong tilt at Ulster and perhaps even beyond - although they will know full well that they will face much stiffer tests that this.