Derry hurlers booked their place in the final of the Christy Ring Cup with a four-point win over Down on a scoreline of 0-22 to 2-12 in an entertaining semi-final at Owenbeg this afternoon.

Trailing 0-10 to 1-08 at half-time, with points from Ruairi Convery (3), Paul Cleary (4), Paddy Henry (2) and Alan Grant (pictured), Derry raced into a two-point lead with scores from Convery, Cleary (pictured) and Paddy McCloskey (2) within minutes of the restart before a Down goal in the 43rd minute levelled the game at 0-14 to 2-08.

Both sides exchanged points before five unanswered scores from Grant (2), Henry and Anton Rafferty put Derry five up on a scoreline of 0-21 to 2-10 with 11 minutes left.

The Mourne men fought back to reduce the deficit to three points with three minutes left.

However, a Convery free from distance settled the Oakleafers’ nerves and Tom McClean’s side held on to book their final place in Croke Park where they will play Kerry who demolished Kildare 6-27 to 0-09 in the other semi played earlier this afternoon.

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