TG4 to broadcast Derry final live but intermediate may have to move

THE Derry senior football championship final will be broadcast live by TG4 on Sunday 4 October. The Oak Leaf decider, which is among the best attended in the country, will be shown by the Irish language station, which plans to again step up its game this autumn with live county finals on a weekly basis through October. While highlights of the Derry final have been shown on their Monday night programme in the past, this will be the first time the decider has been shown live on TV. The semi-finals take place this Sunday night at Owenbeg, with Ballinderry taking on Coleraine and holders Slaughtneil facing Bellaghy. The move will put paid to any hopes the semi-finalists may have had of getting the decider pushed back a week to alleviate a punishing schedule. If Slaughtneil are to qualify for the final, that option would be ruled out anyway owing to their presence in the Ulster hurling semi-final on October 11. At the request of TG4, the game will throw-in at 3pm, which casts doubt on whether the intermediate final will go ahead as the curtain raiser. Derry CCC say that “no decision has yet been made” on the clash of Greenlough and Craigbane, which could have to throw-in as early as 12.45pm on the Sunday to accommodate the TV game. That game could yet be brought forward to Saturday 3 October.