Oisin O’Doherty: Called into action with an excellent parry in the first minute to deny Colm McCarthy. They got a lot of joy off his puckouts. 7
Fionn McEldowney: The form Jack O’Connor was in, most men wouldn’t have laid a glove. Yet McEldowney was one of Slaughtneil’s best players. The 18-year-old won battles, he made recovery tackles, he came out of rucks he had no right to win. But O’Connor did hurt them with his scores. 7.5
Sean Cassidy: A late introduction in place of the ill Conor Coyle, but the right one, tailor made for James Sweeney. Hurled a storm until the change, burned by O’Regan once for a score late on. 7
Conor McAllister: Had a big job to do defensively on Daniel Kearney and did it to the letter, following every stride. Barring one free Kearney won, he was quiet. Went on O’Regan late on, leaking a point. 7
Paul McNeill: Aaron Myers had a big game for Sarsfields, hitting three excellent points from play and making life tough for McNeill all day. 6
Ruairi Ó Mianáin: Pulled his hamstring against Portaferry and was playing on one leg. Managed to do enough of a containing job on Daniel Hogan even in spite of that, hit a great score of his own in the second half. 6
Shane McGuigan: Had Cian Darcy tracking him and it took him a while to get into it but once he moved to midfield, had a much better second half. Harshly pinged on final free. 6.5
Jack Cassidy: Made a few errors in possession but countered it with some brilliant defensive interventions, particularly in the last 20 minutes. 6
Meehaul McGrath: Started in midfield but was moved out to the wing in a reshuffle that brought him more into the game as well. 6
Cormac O’Doherty: Started inside but played most of the game around midfield where he got on a colossal amount of ball that he used well. Played so well in open play, but focus will fall on the missed frees before half-time. 7
Sé McGuigan: Scrapped and battled for whatever he could pick up loose in the middle third. Made a big defensive block late on that looked like it might be critical. Quieter day attacking wise. 6
Mark McGuigan: The captain had the chance at the end but was rushed by Ben Graham and fired over. No shortage of work but just didn’t get into it. 6
Eamon Cassidy: A couple of strong plays towards half-time that resulted in two frees off Paul Leopold but otherwise relatively quiet. 6
Brendan Rogers: Couldn’t have done any more. Sarsfields had three different men on them, with Eoghan and Brian Murphy both moved off him after getting booked. Seemed to be under every single puckout. End product was just lacking. 8
Shéa Cassidy: Came of age in a serious battle with Conor O’Sullivan. Three incredible plucks from the sky. Just needs to add scores. O’Sullivan fought back into it in fairness. 7
Subs
Cahal McKaigue: His pressure forced a turnover on the equaliser at 0-17 apiece. 6
Gerald Bradley: No real time to make an impact. 6
Peter McCullagh: Not on long enough to be rated. 6