Cormac O’Doherty: Slaughtneil talisman hails defensive effort in title win

There have been so many big days for this group of Slaughtneil hurlers with 13-straight Derry titles and now a sixth Ulster crown.

Of course, there have been disappointments on the provincial stage along the way too and O’Doherty says they have made victories like Saturday’s all the sweeter.

“Mark [McGuigan, captain] alluded to it in his speech – these are special days for the club and something we don’t take for granted,” he continued.

“That’s shown in our hunger and desire, year after year. We lose games and have setbacks, but we always bounce back up again and days like this are so special, so worth it.”

Slaughtneil now have an All-Ireland semi-final against Galway’s Loughrea to look forward to with the game pencilled in for Saturday, 20 December.

Last year, they fell agonisingly short when losing out to Sarsfield’s of Cork by one point, so the ambition now turns to taking the next step and reaching a final for the first time.

“Last year hurt us a lot – there’s no point saying any different,” O’Doherty acknowledged.

“We thought we had a great chance and we did but for whatever reason we didn’t get over the line.

“We are exactly where we want to be now. [We’ve] three weeks to prepare for a massive battle in another All-Ireland semi-final – what else would you want coming up to Christmas?”