Wexford had come from seven points down to draw level but their hopes sank when O’Connor was dismissed by Johnny Murphy, picking up his second yellow card for a late challenge on David Reidy.
Shane O’Donnell carried on his immense summer form with a top-scoring contribution of 1-4, his last point an incredible act of improvisation under huge pressure, and he was later voted man of the match.
“I think there were a lot of upset people a couple of weeks ago,” he said afterwards, referring to their disappointing loss to Limerick in the Munster final.
Wexford managed to get back level early in the second half after trailing by two points at the interval, but Clare took over with the extra man advantage.
O’Donnell struck for his goal, brushing past Matthew O’Hanlon and striking off the stick, in the 43rd minute to open a five-point lead and sub Ian Galvin made a wonderful catch and finish to seal victory with their second goal ten minutes later. Wexford couldn’t find a way back.
For Clare, and the older vanguard led by John Conlon, the game posed the question of whether or not they could go to the well one more time. Losing triple Munster finals and successive All-Ireland semi-finals doesn’t happen without a lot of things done well. But silver is a poor consolation for those who’ve already sampled gold.
For many of those players, the remnants of the All-Ireland final-winning team of 11 years ago, this had all the hallmarks of a last stand. And for the players that came after, they knew their dependency on that cohort didn’t need any explanation.
They went to Thurles knowing that this ground could again be a graveyard for their hurling prospects and hopes. Wexford had plenty axes to grind; their only championship win was ten years ago, although the first encounter only arrived in 2002.
The defeats of recent years, notably two years ago when they had Clare by the throat for an hour until Tony Kelly came to the Banner’s rescue, were ample grounds for all kinds of grievance and incentive to put things right.
But they left feeling the same pain as before. They weren’t helped by the loss of Liam Ryan, while Clare made one change to the team announced earlier, starting Aron Shanagher in place of first-choice freetaker Aidan McCarthy. An impressive Shanagher scored 1-2 after coming off the bench in the quarter-final win over Wexford two years ago and has had little championship exposure up to now. This was his first start.
He justified his inclusion here with numerous useful contributions in the opening half, scoring once and setting up scores, with Reidy also influential with two points. Mark Rodgers took over the frees and was hitting the cleanly as Clare, with four points from play from Tony Kelly, led for much of the opening half.
But not for the first time this year they surrendered a promising lead. A Rodgers free in the 24th minute had them leading by seven points, 0-12 to 0-5, and Wexford were vulnerable. But from there Wexford produced 1-4 without reply to level by the 31st minute.
Rory O’Connor, Cian Byrne and a Lee Chin free reduced the lead and then Clare self-destructed. Adam Hogan’s loose pass as seized on by O’Connor, who was upended by David McInerney. Referee Johnny Murphy awarded a black-card penalty, which Chin dispatched. Two minutes later wing-back Conor Foley, who ended up with three points including a lineball, fired them level.
But O’Connor’s red card in the 33rd minute changed the course of the match. Two late Kelly points sent Clare in at the break leading by 0-15 to 1-10 and once McInerney came back on the field they took control.
Chin was also unable to have the same influence as in earlier matches, marked closely by Conor Cleary although Chin did have a goal attempt saved by Eibhear Quilligan in the second half. Quilligan also stopped one from Richie Lawlor, while Mark Fanning denied an effort by Tony Kelly.
Scorers:- Clare: S O’Donnell 1-4, M Rodgers 0-6 ( 6fs), T Kelly 0-6 (1f), I Galvin 1-1, D Reidy 0-3, D Fitzgerald, D Ryan 0-2 each, A Shanagher, C Leen, S Meehan, A McCarthy (65) 0-1 each. Wexford: L Chin 1-6 (5fs, 1-0 pen), C Foley 0-3 (1 lineball), C Byrne, R O’Connor 0-2 each, C McDonald, K Foley, C Dunbar, C Hearne, S Casey, M Fanning (f) 0-1 each.
Clare: E Quilligan; A Hogan, C Cleary, C Leen; D Ryan, D McInerney, J Conlon; C Malone, T Kelly; D Fitzgerald, S O’Donnell, P Duggan; D Reidy. A Shanagher, M Rodgers. Subs: I Galvin for Duggan (45); P Crotty for Fitzgerald (56); C Galvin for Conlon (59); A McCarthy for Rodgers (66).
Wexford: M Fanning; S Reck, M O’Hanlon, E Ryan; C Foley, D Reck, S Donohoe; C Hearne, L Og McGovern; C McGuckin, R O’Connor, R Lawlor; C McDonald, L Chin, C Byrne, Subs: C Dunbar for McGovern (44); K Foley for McGuckin (46); C Byrne Dunbar for Byrne (56); D Carley for Lawlor (68), S Casey for McDonald (68).
Referee: Johnny Murphy (Limerick).
Attendance: 30,509.
