Carlow staged a remarkable comeback to beat Waterford by 0-11 to 0-9 in a thrilling match played in terrible conditions at Dungarvan.

The winners, who had trailed by six with half time looming, reeled off six unanswered points in the last ten minutes at Fraher Field for a victory that sees them move to the summit of Division Four overnight, alongside Longford, who also have five points from a possible six.

The hosts seemed to have weathered the storm so to speak when pointed frees from Shane Ahearne in the ninth and 21st minutes had them ahead by four, 0-9 to 0-5, but the visitors finished like a wind-assisted steam train, with a 67th-minute point from Sean Gannon edging them ahead for the first time before Brian Murphy knocked over the insurance point from a free a minute from time.

With the driving wind and rain at their backs, Na Deise roared into a 0-7 to 0-2 half-time lead.

They notched the first three points of the night through Ahearne, Michael O'Halloran and Patrick Hurney before Ciaran Moran got the Leinster county up and running. Three Ahearne frees had the gap at five after 31 minutes and Mark Ferncombe made it 0-7 to 0-1 before Darragh O'Brien replied on the stroke of half time.

Carlow made a superb start to the second period as Daniel St Ledger slotted a brace of points within two minutes of the restart. Brian Murphy's converted free eight minutes into the second half was his team's fourth successive point: 0-7 to 0-5.

Ahearne's fifth and sixth points of the night temporarily repelled the Carlow revival but the sides were level by the 65th minute as Brian Murphy (free), John Murphy and Gannon all contributed scores.

Both teams produced a huge effort in unforgiving conditions but it was the Barrowsiders who got over the line at the end of a titanic contest.

Carlow - C Kearney; BJ Molloy, S Redmond, K Nolan; M Fitzgerald, D St Ledger (0-1), B Kavanagh; S Gannon (0-3), D Foley; E Finnegan, C Moran (0-1), D Bambrick; Brian Murphy (0-4, 3f), Brendan Murphy, D O'Brien (0-1). Subs: H Gahan for D Bambrick, D Hayden for E Finnegan, E Ruth for D Foley, J Murphy (0-1) for C Moran, E McCormack for D O'Brien.

Waterford - S Enright; D Crowley, R O Ceallaigh, T O'Gorman; T O hUallachain, M O'Gorman, C Phelan; S Ahearne (0-6, 5f), T Prendergast; M Curry, P Hurney (0-1), M O'Halloran (0-1); M Ferncombe (0-1), G Nugent, P Whyte. Subs: T Grey for C Phelan, L Lawlor for G Nugent, L O Lionain for T Prendergast, L O Corraoin for M Curry, O Keevers for T O hUallachain, JJ Hutchinson for R O Ceallaigh.

Referee - D O'Mahoney.

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