Allianz Hurling League Division 1A, Round 4: Clare 1-17 Wexford 1-23
When the need was greatest, it was Wexford who grittily emerged from this Division 1A basement battle with holders Clare to give themselves a National League lifeline in Cusack Park, Ennis.
With both sides without a win this season, it was the Leinster side that deservedly shaded the contest after outscoring their incrementally flagging hosts by 1-18 to 0-11 in the final 50 minutes.
Despite the return of key All-Ireland winning protagonists Tony Kelly, John Conlon, David Fitzgerald, and Mark Rodgers for their first starts of the new season, only five-time All Star Kelly excelled, indeed from the outset as he contributed 1-3 in the first 13 minutes to give his side a dream start.
However, while Lee Chin was also only making his competitive bow for 2025, his greater influence over the 70 minutes would inspire Keith Rossiter’s side to a first triumph of the campaign.
“You need someone to take the game by the scruff of the neck and the personality he is, his physicality, experience and cool head he provides for the young players around him is invaluable,” said Rossiter.
“That goes for Jack O’Connor and Kevin Foley too, who is also back today, so we had a bit of experience blended into our youth today. I still think it was the workmanlike intensity they brought that was key to this win.
“I knew it was in them. From the way we trained and everything, I knew it was in them, so I was unhappy for them that they just hadn’t put a performance together in the first three games.
“So this was a great win up here in Ennis, as any day you come up here and win is massive. It gives us something to build on now so I’m delighted for the boys.”
Kelly’s goal after only 90 seconds had Clare 1-2 clear but thanks to Chin’s elusiveness, allied to Cian Byrne’s frees, the visitors would finally make up the ground to regain parity by the 23rd minute.
Backed by the conditions, Wexford also finished the half on top with the last four points coming through inside trio Kevin Foley, Cian Byrne and Séamus Casey, and inevitably Chin, to go in 0-15 to 1-9 clear at half-time.
Aidan McCarthy’s frees did eat into that deficit on the restart but surprisingly there was a lack of cutting edge up front for the defending champions, who uncharacteristically faded once Casey raided for a goal at the start of the final quarter.
Having lowered the arrears to the minimum, Clare looked to have turned a corner when Rory Hayes superbly blocked down a Kevin Foley shot after Cian Byrne’s free came back off the upright.
However, only minutes later, Hayes’s similar heroics on a Casey attempt weren’t enough as the poacher rifled the rebound to the net to catapult Wexford into a 1-17 to 1-13 advantage by the start of the final quarter.
Remarkably, there would be no Banner backlash as aside for singles for Patrick Crotty and David Reidy, no other home forward would score from play in the second half.
Four of their All-Ireland final starters were withdrawn as a war-weary Clare couldn’t even take advantage of a numerical advantage for the final eight minutes.
Seeing his initial shot stopped by Eibhear Quilligan, Cian Byrne’s attempt to finish the rebound to the net caught marker Darragh Lohan, with referee Thomas Gleeson consulting his officials before issuing a straight red card.
It mattered little though as a 14-man Wexford simply matched anything their hosts could throw at them to complete their third successive league victory in Ennis.
CLARE: E Quilligan; R Hayes, D Lohan, I MacNamara (0-1); C Galvin, J Conlon, A Hogan; C Malone, R Taylor (0-1); D Fitzgerald, M Rodgers, P Crotty (0-1); T Kelly (1-4), A McCarthy (0-8, 7f, 1 65), D Reidy (0-1).
Subs: R Hayes for Conlon (40 mins); P Donnellan for Malone (45); R Mounsey (0-1) for Fitzgerald (56); A Shanagher for Rodgers (62); C Leen for Lohan (67, inj).
WEXFORD: M Fanning; C Foley, S Donohue, E Ryan; R Lawlor (0-2), D Reck, C McGuckin; C Hearne, C Dunbar (0-2); J O’Connor, J Redmond (0-1), L Chin (0-5, 2f); K Foley (0-1), C Byrne (0-9, 6f, 2 65), S Casey (1-3).
Subs: S Roche for Redmond (51); S Reck for Roche (68); T Kinsella for Casey (74).
Referee: T Gleeson (Dublin).
