A BRIAN Byrne hat-trick gave Tombrack United a deserved victory and all three points despite having to survive a late Curracloe United surge in this exciting Wexford Football League Divison 3A clash at Curracloe on Sunday morning last.

The three points help to move Tombrack United joint top of the Division, level with All Blacks with a game in hand, setting themselves up ideally for the festive season games.

The ability of Byrne to put away his chances in the wind and rain lifted Tombrack United, and they were in full flow for most of the game, though they did concede two late goals to the home side.

Curracloe United took full advantage of Tombrack sitting back in the closing ten minutes, protecting their three-goal cushion. When they hit back with two late goals it looked as if they could go on and get something from this game, but the clock ran down, much to the relief of the visitors who were at this stage clinging on for all three points.

After the two-week lay-off owing to the weather, Tombrack United will take heart from this game and the manner in which they achieved all three points.

Apart from that lull in their performance late on, they played all the quality football, with James Hendrick and Paul Murphy superb at the back and Stephen Jordan pulling the strings in midfield, while up front they enjoyed the lethal finishing of Byrne, who was in sparkling form.

It was a strange game, with five of the goals coming in the second-half. While the first period was lively, the respective back fours seemed comfortable enough, with Robert Staples very much to the fore for the home side, while Philip Walsh and Dermot Doolan also carried the game to their opponents.

Midway through the half, Tombrack broke the deadlock. Following some excellent passing out of midfield, the ball fell to Byrne who finished clinically from just inside the area, easily tucking the ball low past 'keeper John Bradley.

However, Curracloe United kept on battling, getting a deserved equaliser twelve minutes before the break through a fine individual effort from Colm Marshall which left the sides level on 1-1 at the interval.

Yet, despite the closeness of the first-half, it came as no real surprise when Tombrack United took control on the resumption, as they looked the more skilful outfit as they went on to put relegation-threatened Curracloe to the sword.

Stephen Jordan was charged with the responsibility in midfield as he continually drove his side forward. It was from one of those attacks that Alan Carty restored his side's lead from close in after 57 minutes.

And as if to confirm their outfield dominance, Tombrack went on a real scoring spree, with Byrne completing his hat-trick on 60 and 75 minutes, leaving his side with what appeared a comfortable 4-1 lead to take into the closing 15 minutes.

Curracloe, already threatened with relegation, staged a remarkable closing ten minutes, with Philip Walsh pulling a goal back with minutes left.

This led to intense pressure from the home side as substitute Mark O'Connor made it 4-3 with one minute of normal time remaining, but the clock ran down as the home side still sought out an equalising goal in a frenetic finish. Tombrack were mighty relieved to hear the final whistle.