BALLINDERRY 1-10
SLAUGHTNEIL 0-10

Collie Devlin's goal proved to be the difference as Ballinderry retained the Derry SFC crown at Slaughtneil's expense at Celtic Park yesterday.

The right corner-forward struck for the game's only goal in the 16th minute and his effort separated the sides at the final whistle of a closely contested encounter.

The Shamrocks led by 1-6 to 0-5 at the interval and extended their lead courtesy of points from Martin Harney and Ryan Bell after the resumption.

Slaughtneil capitalised on the dismissal of Ballinderry half-back Raymond Wilson for a second bookable offence by hitting five unanswered points to leave them just one point in arrears.

They failed to add to their tally in the final 10 minutes, however, as Ballinderry held on to their title with Conleth Gilligan kicking the last score of the game.

Ballinderry - M Conlan; C Wilkinson, K McGuckin, R Scott; R Wilson, C Nevin, G McKinless; E Muldoon, J Conway (0-1); A Devlin (0-2), R Wilkinson (0-1), C Gilligan (0-3); C Devlin (1-0), R Bell (0-2), M Harney (0-1). Subs: D McGuckin for McKinless, D Conway for Harney, Kevin McGuckin for Colin Devlin.

Slaughtneil - A McMullan; C Cassidy, C McKaigue, Francis McEldowney; Karl McKaigue, B McGuigan, D McMullan (0-1); P Bradley, P McGuigan; Fergal McEldowney, C Bradley (0-4), P Kelly (0-2); J Kelly (0-3), M Kelly, S McGuigan. Subs: S Kelly for P McGuigan, E McKaigue for S McGuigan, Paul Bradley for M Kelly, G Bradley for D McMullan.

Referee - S Hamill.