Tracton Goal Blitz Seals Title

Tracton 3-17 Diarmuid Ó Murchús 1-13

Three first-half Tracton goals proved decisive as they held off a brave Diarmuid Ó Murchús effort in the Ross Oil U21 C Hurling Final in Minane Bridge on Tuesday night.

Tracton Ross Oil U21 C Hurling Champions

A hat-trick of goals from man of the match, Cathal Lowney, in the opening 30 minutes gave their opponents a huge mountain to climb in the second half, a task that proved insurmountable.

However, the Crosshaven/Shamrocks side made the perfect start, leading 1-1 to 0-1 after three minutes, with the outstanding Lynch hitting the net.

A flurry of scores from both sides, including two outstanding placed balls from Luke Kiely, had the visitors still leading by a point on eight minutes.

Tracton upped their work rate over the next seven minutes, and two goals from Lowney in that period had the Minane side out in front by 2-7 to 1-3.

Cathal Lowney receiving man-of-the-match from Treasurer of the South East Declan O'Neill

A Robin O’Donovan point was followed by three Ó Murchú points on the bounce, including a brace from Sam Foy.

With the score narrowed to only four points, Lowry popped up to complete his hat-trick, and another point from Lowry gave the Tracton side a 3-9 to 1-7 advantage.

Four early second-half scores from Tracton—Cian Quinn, Evan Kelly, Daire O’Riordan, and John Quinn—had them in a strong position on 35 minutes.

It could have been worse had David Herlihy not produced a superb save from Evan Kelly.

With O’Donovan, who was deadly accurate over the hour, helping to raise Tracton’s tally on 43 minutes to 3-15 to 1-8.

Despite the yawning gap, four consecutive scores from Ó Murchús, including a brace from Oisín Buckley, left the score at 3-16 to 1-12 on 54 minutes.

However, despite Ó Murchú’s best efforts to find the elusive goals to bring them back into the contest, they couldn’t break down the stout Tracton rearguard.

As time marched on, Lynch added his side’s last score before Luke Kiely fired over the final point of the evening—as Tracton lifted the title.

Scorers

Tracton: C. Lowney 3-2; R. O’Donovan, L. Kiely (4f) (0-4 each); J. Quinn 0-3; C. Quinn 0-2; D. O’Riordan, E. Kiely (0-1 each).Diarmuid Ó Murchús: C. Lynch 1-6 (5f); R. Sisk, S. Foy, O. Buckley 0-2 each; C. O’Donovan 0-1.

Teams

Tracton:A. Kiely, A. McCarthy, C. Breathnach, J. Kingston;C. Quinn, A. Middleton, D. McDonnell, D. O’Riordan, E. Kelly,R. O’Donovan, J. Quinn, L. Kiely, C. Lowney.Subs: D. McDonnell for E. Kelly (37), E. Lehane for D. McDonnell (55), A. Taylor for J. Quinn (59).

Diarmuid Ó Murchús:D. Herlihy, K. May, S. Glossop, R. Barrett, B. O’Mahony,C. O’Donovan, R. Sisk, S. Buckley, E. Sullivan, J. Bartlett,S. Foy, C. Lynch, F. Mansfield.Subs: C. Mulcahy for C. O’Donovan (37), O. Auzins for R. Sisk (54), C. O’Donovan for S. Glossop (59, inj).

Referee: Pat O’Leary (Valley Rovers)

Cian Quinn receiving the Ross Oil Sponsored Trophy from Kevin O'Donovan, Vice Chairman of the South East Board