Portaferry are through to the Ulster Club SHC final thanks to a deserved 1-25 to 2-14 victory over Dunloy at Armagh's Athletic Grounds.

Tom McGrattan's fortuitous goal in the 54th minute proved to be the game-breaker for the Down champions, who had dictated terms for long spells before Dunloy began to work their way into it.

Two weeks after the passing of Portaferry's two-time Olympian Ciara Mageean, 34, the town's hurlers had their opportunity to pay a perfect tribute and did so with a display of guts, passion and no little skill as they booked a meeting with defending champions Slaughtneil on 28 November.

Before the game, there was a minute's silence as Portaferry's starting team joined their management and subs, linking arms as a unit in a show of solidarity and that collective spirit was the story of their day.

They hassled, harried and brought an energy Dunloy struggled to match, but in attack they had some excellent performances with McGrattan finishing with 1-7, Finn Turpin landing six points, while Eoghan Sands and Tom Murray hit three apiece.

Despite having a four-week wait for this Ulster opener, Portaferry were much shaper as they tore into this game with two points from Eoghan Sands.

Chrissy McMahon hit two of his own for Dunloy with McGrattan responding each time before the Antrim champions found the net for the first time in the eighth minute.

Nicky McKeague appeared to be shooting for a point, but the ball dropped and Keelan Molloy took it down beautifully, shrugging off a challenge to find the net with the help of a deflection.

But Portafery hit back immediately with five of the next six points as McGrattan, Tom Murray, FinnTurpin and Cahal Coleman split the posts - Coleman's score an epitome of Portaferry's approach as they hounded Dunloy into coughing up possession.

However, the Antrim side would hit back with a 16th minute goal to level as Nigel Elliott cut a ball into the danger area from right on the end-line and in the scramble, McKeague got the final touch.

The sides would go score-for-score for the run to the end of the half with Conal Cunning accurate from frees for Dunloy.

However, Portaferry would enjoy a good mini spell in stoppage time with Turpin landing his fourth of the half, Daithi Sands with his second and McGrattan with his sixth to give the Down champions a 0-16 to 2-7 lead.

They picked up where they left off after the break with Tom Murray on target, but Dunloy hung in as they responded four times to Portaferry scores with Cunning building his tally from frees.

Eoin O'Neill - making his first appearance since injuring his shoulder in the Antrim semi-final - was sprung from the bench and added a couple of scores as Dunloy edged to within one with seven to play despite losing Keelan Molloy to injury.

They did have full-back Ryan McGarry to thank for putting his body on the line with two huge blocks, but it seemed they had begun to take over when disaster struck.

McGrattan shot for a point that dropped and seemed a routine gather for Ryan Elliott - typically solid all game - who was under no pressure, but perhaps taking his eye off it to survey his options, the ball spilled between his legs and into the net.

It was a killer blow as Portaferry were now full of energy once again, rattling off the final four points to seal their place in the final.

Dunloy: Ryan Elliott; Aaron Crawford, Ryan McGarry, Oran Quinn; Eamon Smyth, Eoin McFerran, Aodhan McGarry; Nicky McKeague (1-0), Seaan Elliott (0-1); Nigel Elliott, Conal Cunning (0-9, 9f), Luke McFerran; Ciaran Elliott, Keelan Molloy (1-0), Chrissy McMahon (0-2).

Subs: Eoin O'Neill (0-2) for C Elliott (39), Tom McFerran for N McKeague (44), Barry Scott for K Molloy (46), Paul Shiels for E Smyth (57)

Portaferry: Pearce Smyth; Darragh Mallon, Barry Trainor, Caolan Taggart; Ronan Smyth, Matthew Conlan, Ciaran Milligan; Tom Murray (0-3), Shane Conlan; Finn Turpin (0-6), Daithi Sands (0-2), Cahal Coleman (0-2); Eoghan Sands (0-3), Niall Milligan, Tom McGrattan (1-7, 2f).

Subs: Niall Fitzsimmons (0-1) for C Milligan (40), Ronan Blair (0-1) for N Milligan (44), Noah Rogers for C Coleman (58), Callum Smyth for C Taggart (60+3).