Magherafelt have qualified for their first Derry SFC final since 1983 after withstanding a second half rally by Banagher in this evening's semi-final at Owenbeg.

Shane Heavron scored 0-6 (0-5 frees) as the Rossa squeezed through on a 1-10 to 1-9 scoreline. They will face the winners of tomorrow's clash between Slaughtneil and Glen in the decider.

Banagher hadn't won a game all year before beating Bellaghy and Swatragh to reach the last four, but they fell short on this occasion, despite outscoring their opponents by 0-6 to 0-1 in a tense second half. A Conor Kearns goal and points from Danny Heavron, Shane Heavron and Paddy McLarnon eased the winners into a 1-4 to 0-1 lead before Niall Moore's major brought Banagher back into it.

But Magherafelt finished the half with points from Shane Heavron and Kearns to take a 1-9 to 1-4 lead into the break.

With the wind behind them in the second half, the championship surprise packets roared back with points from Mark Lynch, Tiarnan Moore, Shane Murphy and Conor Feeney. But the Rossa survived three minutes of injury-time to edge it.

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