Gaelic Games

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Malachy O'Rourke says he wishes he was leaving Glen "on better terms" after his hugely successful reign was ended with defeat by Newbridge in Sunday's Derry SFC final.

O'Rourke has overseen the greatest period in Glen's history with his four-year spell in charge yielding three county titles, two Ulster Club Championship wins and an All-Ireland triumph.

But O'Rourke was unable to mastermind a fourth successive Derry title with Ciaran Brooks' injury-time score propelling Newbridge to their first county success in 35 years.

"Fair play to Newbridge, they were up for it on the day and they played brilliantly on the day," O'Rourke told BBC Sport NI.

"The boys showed character, I'm so proud of them, even in defeat because they kept going right until the end and I thought we'd salvaged it at the end.

"It just wasn't to be. We've had a brilliant time, we're disappointed today but that's the way football goes and fair play to Newbridge."

With his time at Glen at an end, O'Rourke will begin preparing for his return to inter-county management with Tyrone, having been confirmed as Brian Dooher and Feargal Logan's successor in September.

But he says he leaves the Watty Grahams club in Maghera with "great memories" after a whirlwind spell that produced their first ever Derry title and a hugely controversial All-Ireland final loss to Kilmacud Crokes before redemption in the 2024 decider against the Dublin giants.

"It's been absolutely brilliant," added O'Rourke.

"The people, all the lads in the club obviously, but the whole community has embraced us and we've had a brilliant time. We have such great memories leaving it.

"It's a pity we couldn't be leaving on better terms but that's the way football goes. We've had a brilliant time and we have loads of memories and fair bit of success behind us.

"It wasn't our day today but I'm sure the club will go from strength to strength, I've no doubt about that."

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Slaughtneil secured a 12th successive Derry Senior Hurling title with a dominant 0-16 to 0-4 victory over Banagher at Owenbeg.

Underdogs Banagher, seeking a fourth title and first since 2005, stayed in touch early on as they trailed only 0-4 to 0-2 after 14 minutes but three Cormac O'Doherty points helped the champions lead 0-8 to 0-2 at the interval.

Banagher scored first after the interval but Slaughtneil responded with seven straight points to put the match to bed as they extended their record-breaking sequence of Derry titles.

Freetaker O'Doherty added five second-half points - including one from play - with Se McGuigan also contributing 0-2.

Slaughtneil's victory sets up an Ulster semi-final meeting with Cushendall on 16 November which will be a repeat of last year's provincial decider when the Antrim champions edged a 0-20 to 2-10 win.

The winners of that game will face Portaferry in the Ulster decider.

The Derry champions won four out of five Ulster titles between 2016 and 2021, with the provincial competition not taking place in 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Mickey Graham has joined Padraic Joyce's Galway backroom team just two weeks after ending his short-lived stint as Leitrim boss.

Former Cavan manager Graham took the Leitrim job in August, replacing Mayo legend Andy Moran, on a three-year term, but left earlier this month with Leitrim GAA saying "circumstances beyond his control" prompted his exit.

Following a Galway county committee meeting on Thursday evening, Graham was confirmed as part of Joyce's backroom team with the Tribesmen boss extending his own term until 2026.

Before joining Moran's Leitrim backroom team ahead of the 2024 season, Graham managed his native county Cavan for five years, leading them to a shock Ulster title in 2020.

He was also part of Joyce's Connacht backroom team during last weekend's inter-provincial series at Croke Park, where Gaelic football's proposed new rules were trialled.

Galway selectors John Concannon, John Divilly and Micheal O Domhnaill are also staying on with the beaten All-Ireland finalists, while David Morris has joined Graham on the coaching ticket.