McGrath is Clare’s main marksman

Clare booked their place in the NHL Division 1B final after their fourth consecutive win of the campaign at Cusack Park, Ennis yesterday.

Davy Fitzgerald’s men looked sharp from the outset and had five points on the board without reply by the 8th minute.

Wexford struggled to cope with the two man full-forward line tactic of their hosts and were rocked by a John Conlon goal which left eight points between the sides by the 20th minutes (1-6 to 0-1).

Free taker Jack Guiney kept Wexford in touch and his side trailed 2-8 to 0-9 at the break with Sean Collins getting the second Clare goal following a fine move involving Jonathan Clancy and Conor McGrath.

On the restart, McGrath netted their third goal after collecting a long clearance from Brendan Bugler and turning James Tonks. Wexford’s cause wasn’t helped by the dismissal of full-back Matthew O’Hanlon to a second yellow card from referee Alan Kelly 11 minutes after the restart.

Wexford were overly reliant on Guiney while Clare, playing a passing game, managed to find the target from a number of sources. McGrath, especially in the second period, impressed and he was ably assisted by the likes midfielder Nickey O’Connell, Conlon and sub Liam Markham.

Scorers for Clare: C McGrath (1-7) 0-4 f’s, J Conlon (1-2), S Collins (1-1), N O’Connell (0-3) 1 f, L Markham (0-2), F Lynch (0-1).

Scorers for Wexford: J Guiney (0-12) 10 f’s, 1 ‘65, H Kehoe (0-2), D O’Keeffe, D Lyng, R Kehoe (f), J Berry (0-1) each.

CLARE: P Kelly, E Glynn, C Dillon, C Cooney, B Bugler, J McInerney, S Morey, N O’Connell, P Donnellan (c), J Clancy, S Collins, F Lynch, C Ryan, J Conlon, C McGrath.

Subs: C McInerney for Lynch (inj, ht), L Markham for Glynn (51), A Cunningham for Ryan (53), C Galvin for Donnellan (67).

WEXFORD: N Breen, J Tonks, M O’Hanlon, K Rossiter (c.), D Redmond, D Stamp, C Kenny, E Quigley, P.J. Nolan, J Guiney, J Leacy, H Kehoe, R Jacob, S Banville, D O’Keeffe.

Subs: D Lyng for Banville (half-time), R Kehoe for Kenny (51), P Morris for Nolan (54), B Kenny for Tonks (54), J Berry for H Kehoe (65).

Referee: A Kelly (Galway).