Down will face Antrim in the Ulster senior hurling decider after defeating Derry by 3-16 to 1-17 at Owenbeg.

Kevin Hinphey gave the hosts brief hope when he bagged their goal on 57 minutes, reducing the arrears to seven.

But Down, who trailed by 0-10 to 0-8 at the break, had all but sealed progression with three goals in the third quarter.

Gareth 'Magic' Johnson's 50th-minute major put the game out of the Oak Leafers' reach, 3-13 to 0-12.

The provincial final between Ulster's traditional Big Two will take place in a fortnight.

Down - S Keith; S Ennis, C Woods, M Hughes; D McManus (0-1), C O'Neill, M McCullough; J McManus, D Hughes; S Dineen, D Toner (1-7, 0-1f), F Conway; C Bailie (1-1), G Johnson (1-6, 0-5f), J Coyle (0-1). Subs: B Nicholson for R Branagan, C Cassidy for J Coyle, P Sheehan for C Bailie, S Nicholson for D McManus.

Derry - D McDermott; M Warnock, C Quinn, S McCullagh; C McSorley, L Hinphey, R McCloskey; A Rafferty, S McGuigan (0-1); A Kelly (0-1), A Grant (0-1), K Hinphey (1-1); P Henry (0-8, 7f), R Convery, J O'Dwyer (0-1). Subs: P Cleary (0-3) for R Convery, E McGuckin for S McCullough, B Douban (0-1) for A Kelly, D Foley for S McGuigan, T McCloskey for J O'Dwyer.

Referee - O Elliott.

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