Clare are through to the Guinness All-Ireland hurling quarter-finals following this afternoon's comprehensive 3-15 to 3-07 victory over Wexford at Portlaoise's O'Moore Stadium this evening. Colin Lynch gave an indication of the way things would develop when he opened the scoring for Clare inside 50 seconds, and the same player added another two minutes later to set a precedent for the rest of the game as Clare stormed to a 0-09 to 0-02 lead at the interval.
The first goal of the game arrived within 30 seconds of the restart with Clare's Tony Carmody killing the game as a contest with a superb finish after catching and turning 15 yards out. However, Wexford's Paul Codd gave his side a glimmer of hope with a brilliant goal after surging from halfway after 40 minutes and Barry Lambert added another point to raise Wexford hopes of a comeback.
MJ Furlong and Codd added two more points as a resurgent Wexford threatened to mount a dramatic comeback, and their new found belief manifested itself in the best possible way when Rory Jacob scored a sensational goal to reduce the deficit to four points (1-12 to 2-05) in the 50th minute. However, their joy was short lived as goalkeeper Damien Fitzhenry was beaten to a 45 by Carmody and the Clare forward helped the ball into the net to restore a seven point cushion and dampen Wexford spirits.
Niall Gilligan combined well with Carmody after 56 minutes to claim Clare's third goal to open a nine point gap, and although Codd reduced the deficit with a thundering goal from a 30 yard free two minutes from time, The Banner men ran out convincing eight point winners and will not be an easy draw for any side as the battle for the Championship comes down to the last eight.
Filed by Shane Murray
