Slaughtneil got the defence of their Ulster Club SFC crown off to a winning start against Kilcoo in Pairc Esler today.

4,514 spectators turned up to watch a repeat of last year's provincial decider and history repeated itself with Slaughtneil claiming the spoils by 1-11 to 0-12.

There was no shortage of talking points as the Down representatives finished the contest with 13 men after Dylan Ward and Eugene Branagan were issued with their marching orders in the first-half and second-half respectively.

Paul McNeill of Slaughtneil also saw red during an opening period which finished 0-7 to 0-4 in favour of Mickey Moran's men.

Captain Patsy Bradley's 40^th minute goal pushed them six points clear (1-8 to 0-5) and that proved to be the difference between the sides at the final whistle.

An Antoin McMullan penalty save in the closing stages was another defining moment in the game and Slaughtneil now switch their focus to a quarter-final date with the winners of today's Tyrone final between Errigal Ciaran and Omagh St Enda's.

That last eight fixture is penciled in for Sunday, October 29^th.

Slaughtneil - A McMullan; P McNeill, B Rodgers (0-1), K McKaigue; F McEldowney, C McKaigue, K Feeney; P Bradley (1-0), P Cassidy (0-1); Shane McGuigan (0-4f), R Bradley, M McGrath (0-1); C O'Doherty (0-1), Se McGuigan (0-1), C Bradley (0-2f). Subs: B Cassidy for P Bradley, G Bradley for M McGrath, C McAllister for R Bradley (BC).

Kilcoo - S Kane; N Branagan, D O'Hanlon (0-4f), N McEvoy; E Branagan, Aidan Branagan, D Branagan; F McGreevy, A Morgan; D Ward, P Devlin (0-5, 2f, 1'45), Conor Laverty; J Johnston, C Doherty (0-1), J McClean. Subs: M Devlin (0-1) for N McEvoy, JJ McLoughlin (0-1) for F McGreevy, D Kane for J Johnston.

Referee - N Cullen.

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