There was a controversial finish to yesterday's Ulster hurling final when Antrim were denied the opportunity to equalise in injury-time by the referee. Gary O'Kane's sideline cut knocked off a Derry defender for a 65, but the referee blew the final whistle, refusing to allow the 65 to be taken.

Derry captain Conor McCambridge would surely have converted it, given his earlier successes from the distance. Antrim were merely one point adrift at the time, having gone behind to an injury-time pointed-free by Oliver Collins. That point secured for Derry their first title in 98 years. However, for a long time in the second half in Casement Park yesterday, it appeared that Derry had blown their chance of Ulster glory, before it was timely resuscitated with a belated John O'Dwyer goal.

Derry scored three first-half goals, two of which were the direct result of abysmal defending. Rather than consolidating their position with wind advantage in the first half, Derry kept their hands on the self-destruct button by shooting 14 first-half wides, all from scoreable positions.

The explanation for such wastage by Derry midfielder Michael Conway was unacceptable. He said: "We had trouble finding enough room for our shots."

Derry's inaccuracy saw them shoot 10 of those wides in the opening 18 minutes as they patently had the holders stretched to the limit and, surprisingly, Oliver Collins was the main culprit.

Collins' explanation on his own behalf was perhaps valid. He had been out of competitive play with a broken jaw in recent weeks and insisted: "You don't just pick up a hurley and carry on from where you left off."

Antrim's defence was so poor that they had little right to be associated with a team, inspired by Conor McCambridge, that atoned for all its shortcomings by, not only wiping out an eight-point interval deficit early in the first half, but by also grabbing the lead and going ahead by five points. There seemed to be no way back for Derry when they trailed by 3-5 to 0-18 in the closing quarter. But subsequent events gave a dissatisfied Antrim chief selector Sean McNaughton ammunition to lash his side: "It is the worst performance that I have ever seen. For our defence to give away four goals like that, some of them were kicked in as our defenders just seemed to be satisfied to look on. It was kid's stuff by us. You pick the best team you think you have and then for them to go out there and react like that." McNaughton went on: "Anyway, we have a lot to learn from the way the likes of Derry are looked after. We should be more professional, but instead we are chasing our tails, not having the players on a regular basis and eating sandwiches after training. Derry know how to look after their players better and the best of luck to them."

The best move Antrim made was switching Gary O'Kane back into defence where he is best deployed, but even that did now redress the problems at the back.

Conor McCambridge's leadership in attack was one of the highlights of the Antrim bid. Another plus for them was a huge point from a sideline cut as Antrim fought back with great promise in the third quarter.

Derry's Colin McEldowney, Kieran McKeever and Michael Collins were enriching their sides challenge down the middle, but the scores were not coming and, after Garry Biggs missed an easy chance to equalise in the final quarter, Antrim streaked away to secure a five points advantage within ten minutes of the finish.

Greg Biggs was wisely introduced from a talented Derry bench in the closing stages and had a brilliant point before setting up the move that led to the crucial fourth goal.

A point in reply by an equally effective substitute in Antrim's Chris Hamill left the sides tantalisingly level in the hectic remaining minutes. Collins and McCambridge exchanged wides, before Collins hit the winner in injury-time from a 40-yard free.

But it was left to the referee to have the final say with his decision to deny Antrim the opportunity to take a subsequent 65.