ULSTER MFC With holders Donegal making a premature exit from the competition, the destination of this years Ulster MFC will be decided when Tyrone and Derry lock horns at Clones on July 15th. Both sides have looked ultra impressive in disposing of all obstacles en-route to the decider, with Tyrone accounting for Fermanagh and Armagh with the minimum of fuss while Derry have only conceded four points in their two outings to date. The Red Hand youngsters began their campaign with a double scores, 2-12 to 1-6, victory over the Ernesiders which set them up nicely for a provincial semi-final date with Armagh, who had knocked out Donegal in their previous outing. While Armagh would have entered the clash with plenty of confidence after taking the notable scalp of the holders, they were rocked by the concession of a Conor O'Neill goal after just 25 seconds and failed to raise a gallop thereafter. Aided by that early strike, Tyrone established a 1-6 to 0-5 interval lead and when Tiernan O'Hagan netted midway through the second half, Armagh were unable to muster any response and were comprehensively defeated 0-8 to 2-12. Derry were handed a nice pipe opener into the competition as they faced Antrim in their opener and as expected the Oak leaf side had little difficulty in securing their passage to the 'semi's', running out comfortable 1-10 to 0-3 winners, with Lee Moore netting the only goal of the game. A tougher challenge was expected when they met Monaghan in the last four but once again Derry's mean defence came up trumps and a landslide 1-11 to 0-1 victory was a clear indication of their superiority. Monaghan had booked their ticket to the quarter-final with a 1-6 to 2-1 triumph over Down but the Farney men struggled against a Derry side who led from the outset with a Gavin McGeehan goal in the second half copperfastening the success. CONNAUGHT MFC Galway will be side hoping to thwart Roscommon's attempt to secure back-to-back Connaught MFC titles when the sides meet in the provincial decider on July 8th. The Tribesmen were pitted with Sligo in their last four clash and after a couple of scares, they managed to wriggle their way into the decider, with the board reading 0-13 to 1-8 after the hours action. Galway inflicted most of the damage on their opponents in the first half, racing into a 0-9 to 0-3 interval advantage and although they only posted a further four points onto that tally, a second half revival from the Yeats County lads wasn't enough to sway the verdict in their favour. Michael Martyn stole the scoring honours for the winners as he sent over five points while Johnaton Ryan and John O'Brien played important supporting roles in a richly deserved Galway victory. They will have to engineer an improved performance in the decider, however, as they face a Roscommon side, who are exuding with confidence after their 1-11 to 1-5 victory over a fancied Mayo outfit at Hyde Park. Roscommon were involved in a round-robin series prior to their meeting with Mayo and those outings with Leitrim and Sligo served the purpose of blowing away any cobwebs as the Rossies minors looked capable of mounting another serious challenge for All-Ireland honours on the evidence of impressive defeat of Mayo. ULSTER MHC Antrim remained kingpins of the Ulster MHC scene after securing their sixth consecutive provincial title in the grade at the expense of Down on a 2-14 to 3-8 scoreline at Casement Park on Saturday, 26th May. Down had looked impressive in disposing of Derry en-route to the decider, scoring by 2-13 to 0-8, and they produced another excellent display against their more esteemed opponents which was almost sufficient to dethrone the holders. The outcome hung in the balance for the vast majority of the tie and it wasn't until Darren Hamill sent over a trio of points in injury time at the end of the hour that Antrim could breath a sigh of relief. Match-winner Hamill already had 1-1 on the board at that stage but he had to share the scoring honours with Michael McCarthy who also registered 1-4 while goalkeeper Cormac Donnelly played his part with a string of fine saves. After holding a 2-7 to 1-4 lead at the change of ends, the Saffrons looked likely to canter to the winning post but a spirited second half Down rally made them pull out all the stops to continue their domination of the competition. Tweet

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