Brian Lohan’s side had just two weeks to prepare for the Wexford game but with O’Donnell scoring 1-4 they were equal to the challenge and moved into the semi-finals, winning 2-28 to 1-19 at Semple Stadium.
“They’ve been tough,” O’Donnell said of the weeks after their third straight Munster final defeat by the All-Ireland champions. “But Limerick are an excellent team. We’re under no illusions about that and we go out every day trying to beat them and we don’t come away the right side of it most times.
“The same over the last couple of weeks, I wouldn’t have read much into any of the stuff that had been said about ‘it was a particularly difficult defeat’ or anything.
“It was a defeat, all of them are difficult. We knew we were going to have two weeks coming into this game and we were able to focus after a couple of days and really zone into today.”
Clare led by seven points in the first half before Wexford reeled them in with 1-4 without reply, the goal from a black card penalty finished by Lee Chin.
David McInerney had 10 minutes on the sideline for the foul which led to the penalty and he was soon followed by Rory O’Connor, who picked up a second yellow and a red card for a late challenge on David Reidy.
Two points ahead at half-time, Clare were pegged back again early into the second half but goals from O’Donnell and sub Ian Galvin powered them to a 12-point win and earned a third consecutive All-Ireland semi-final date with Kilkenny. They meet at Croke Park on Saturday week.
“I think we knew this was going to be a tough challenge coming in against Wexford,” said O’Donnell, whose summer form has been exceptional.
“It was the same two years ago, a really challenging game until we got on top in the last five or 10 minutes. We’re happy to get into a semi-final and that was definitely the target.”
He agreed that the clear-cut nature of the Limerick defeat made recovery easier.
“When you lose by a point or you draw a game, there are so many ifs and buts but when you lose by six or whatever and play really poorly, you kinda just have to put it behind you – you take your learnings from it and move on pretty quickly.
“We put a lot into those games even when it doesn’t look like it out on the pitch. It’s the psychological and the physical stuff that all culminates in those Munster finals. They’re big occasions, you’re really nervous and scared coming into them, so it takes a lot of energy out of you and we really appreciated the few extra days and I think it really did suit us well.
“We felt we got a really good couple of intense sessions during the week and we were in good shape coming into today.”
Kilkenny ended their championship interest in each of the last two years and O’Donnell spoke about the challenge awaiting them.
“Well, they are an extremely physical team, they’re an extremely good team. That’s the bottom line. We know from two years ago if you don’t come fully gung-ho for them you know what you’re going to get from them. They play very tough hurling, but they’re not missing out on that tactical nous as well so they are kind of the full package.”
