Cathal Lowney strikes late as Tracton pull off comeback against Cloughduv

Tracton 2-23 Cloughduv 3-16 

Tracton conjured up a remarkable late comeback to defeat Cloughduv in a pulsating Co-Op Superstores Premier Junior Hurling Championship encounter at Belgooly on Saturday.

With 11 minutes remaining, a Jack Kelleher shot rebounded to Eoin McNabola, who cracked the sliotar to the net. Two further points had the Muskery side ahead by 3-16 to 1-18. But Tracton just don’t know when they are beaten.

Points from Aaron Lyons and the outstanding Cian Quinn (2) narrowed the margin to 3-16 to 1-21 as time ticked away.

Incredible drama followed, as Cathal Lowney put Tracton into the lead on 60 minutes with a brilliant finish. A shell-shocked Cloughduv side had no answer as Tracton completed an extraordinary comeback.

Cloughduv started brightly with Brian and Mark Verling both pointing. Tracton were level on seven minutes thanks to two Quinn frees, led through John Good before Stephen O'Donoghue sent over a huge free from inside his own half to tie up again.

Aaron Lyons and Michael O'Sullivan nabbed neat points before Mark Verling (2) and O'Donoghue pushed the Mid Cork outfit three up.

Tracton then rattled the net through Lowney before another Quinn free had them ahead on 27 minutes.

The lead was short-lived, however, as Verling scored an outstanding individual goal to put two between the sides. A point apiece from Quinn and Verling left the score at 1-10 to 1-8 at half-time.

The second half started in much the same vein with Sean O'Leary's goal on 39 minutes making it 2-13 to 1-11 to Cloughduv.

Tracton then went on a rally, outscoring their opponents by six points to one, with Quinn claiming three frees.

Cloughduv looked to have done enough when they added 1-2, but you write Tracton off at your peril. The Carrigdhoun side produced a stunning late surge, with Lowney's second goal putting them in front before two further Tracton points completed a remarkable turnaround.

Scorers for Tracton: Cian Quinn 0-15 (0-13 f), Cathal Lowney 2-0, John Good, Michael O'Sullivan, Mark Castleton, Aaron Lyons 0-2 each. 

Cloughduv: Mark Verling 1-9 (0-6 f), Sean O'Leary 1-1, Eoin McNabola 1-0, Brian Verling 0-2, Stephen O'Donoghue 0-3 f, Aodh Twomey 0-1.

TRACTON: S O'Sullivan; K Webb, J Lynch; D Good; K Healy, J Good, R Sinclair; C McGuiness, D O'Riordan; M O'Sullivan, C Quinn, A Lyons; M Castleton, C Lowney, M Byrne.

Subs: D Flaherty for M Byrne (42), G Webb for D O'Riordan (48), J Kingston for M Castleton (54 inr).

CLOUGHDUV: S O'Donoghue; J Moynihan, L Kelleher, P Buckley; H Murphy, E Clifford, A Murphy; M O'Leary, S O'Leary; M Verling, S Barry, J Kelleher; E Moynihan, E McNabola, B Verling.

Subs: A Twomey for S Barry (HT), O O'Driscoll for J Kelleher (50).

Referee: Cormac Dineen.