Wexford fire two goals in a minute to spark comeback win over Clare

Brian Lohan's side led by 1-19 to 0-14 as late as the 61st minute

Clare and Wexford players contest a loose ball. Picture: INPHO/Bryan Keane

CLARE 1-21 WEXFORD 2-19 

With staccato sentences and in hushed tones, Brian Lohan spoke to the media after his Clare side had surrendered an eight-point advantage and lost at home to Wexford.

“Disappointment” was the gist of his reaction but his body language told its own story with this loss coming hot on the heels of defeat to Antrim in Belfast last Sunday.

Lohan could point to the fact that Tony Kelly had to leave the field with a dead leg and first-teamers David McInerney, David Reidy, and Shane O’Donnell were missing but their opponents were also minus several regulars also.

What will concern Lohan more is the fact Clare looked impressive for long spells in this game, Aidan McCarthy embracing the free-taking role after Kelly picked up his injury and Aron Shanagher a constant danger in the full-forward line.

But their collectedness disintegrated upon Liam Corry’s 57th-minute red card for chopping down on Rory O’Connor. Eibhear Quilligan did well to save from David Dunne soon after but Wexford sensed weakness and came at Clare in waves.

Dunne was provider for Simon Donohoe’s 63rd minute goal and Quilligan was picking the sliotar out of the net in the following minute when Rory O’Connor drove at Clare once more and popped the ball to Lee Chin to finish.

Clare were reeling and their lead disappeared in the 66th minute. O’Connor then punished a poor puck-out and by the time Chin pointed in the 69th minute, Wexford had put together an unanswered 2-4.

Two McCarthy frees in the closing stages, the latter for a foul which saw Matthew O’Hanlon sent off for a second bookable offence, set up a tense finish but Rory O’Connor was on hand to convert a free from an acute angle to seal the win.

To describe the collapse, Lohan chose his words carefully. “Conceded two goals, we looked a bit open for the last 10 minutes. A possession team like that, once they get possession, very hard to get it off them and then they had that extra space in our defence and they banged in those goals.”

Against Laois the previous weekend, Fitzgerald had been furious with his team’s display up to the final quarter but they finished the stronger yet again. “We shouldn’t have been in that position,” he said. “We had a lot of bad wides and I am happy with the fighting mentality. We can’t be missing the scores we missed today but happy with the fighting and spirit.”

Clare have an opportunity to get back to winning ways against Laois next weekend but the team will require surgery. John Conlon is a leader but is a forward. He doesn’t have the range of passing or awareness to be a modern-day centreback.

Aside from Tony Kelly having to leave the field with a dead leg in the 29th minute, Clare had a most satisfactory first half. They led 0-6 to 0-3 at the first water break, the direct ball into Shanagher working reasonably well.

It wasn’t until the 21st minute that Wexford scored from play. They were winning plenty of frees but Chin’s radar was off as he struck five wides — he was off target again before duties were handed to Rory O’Connor. At the other end, Clare had five different scorers from play by the 32nd minute and they didn’t post a wide until the third extra minute of the half.

With three points from play on the bounce, Wexford narrowed the gap to two in first-half additional time only for Shanagher to undo all their good work. Catching and turning for goal, he was brought down by Joe O’Connor and the Wexford defender was sin-binned. Aidan McCarthy converted the penalty and Clare led 1-11 to 0-9 at the break.

In the time Joe O’Connor was off the field, Clare posted 1-4 to 0-1. They led by seven at the second-half water break, 1-17 to 0-13, and twice went eight up after that before their wall came tumbling down.

The 60-second report

IT MATTERED: Rory O’Connor showed great composure to send over the injury-time winning free from a tight angle, which was won by his brother Jack.

CAN'T IGNORE: Apart from a second successive defeat for Clare, Wexford have to sort their free-taking issues. Davy Fitzgerald said rustiness was behind Lee Chin’s poor return from placed balls and it could have been costly here.

GOOD DAY: Fitzgerald’s reaction to the final whistle was muted but avoiding a third straight defeat to his native county must have been a source of relief.

BAD DAY: Not that this is anything close to a time of crisis for Clare and, as Brian Lohan said, this was an improvement on the defeat to Antrim but surrendering an eight-point lead is a cause for concern.

PHYSIO ROOM: Lohan allayed fears about Tony Kelly’s injury, stating it was a dead leg. David Reidy and Shane O’Donnell were named to start but picked up injures late last week. Liam Ryan and Conor McDonald also didn’t tog out for Wexford.

SIDELINE SMARTS: Wexford didn’t start with a full-forward line but Chin eventually moved in there. It wasn’t until Rory O’Connor pushed up that Wexford really profited although the red card did make a difference. Clare were more conventional and the John Conlon experiment at centre-back may now have to come to an end.

BEST ON SHOW: Aidan McCarthy embraced the free-taking mantle after Kelly had to make way with a dead leg and stuck his penalty well. Aaron Shanagher was excellent as a target man but the man who made the biggest difference was Rory O’Connor. Stationed closer to goal, he is deadly.

MAN IN THE MIDDLE: Excellent performance by Fergal Horgan. Joe O’Connor’s sin bin was the right call as Liam Corry’s sending off appeared to be.

NEXT UP: Clare head to Portlaoise on Sunday afternoon and Wexford are on their travels again, this time to Kilkenny.

Scorers for Clare: A. McCarthy (1-8, 1-0, 0-6 frees); C. Malone, T. Kelly (frees), A. Shanagher (0-3 each); D. Fitzgerald, M. Rodgers, I. Galvin, S. Meehan (0-1 each).

Scorers for Wexford: L. Chin (1-5, 0-3 frees, 0-1 65); R. O’Connor (0-6, 4 frees); S. Donohoe (1-0); D. Dunne (0-3); D. O’Keeffe, C. Flood, L. McGovern, S. Reck, G. Bailey (0-1 each).

CLARE: E. Quilligan; R. Hayes, C. Cleary, L. Corry; D. Ryan, J. Conlon (c), J. Browne; P. Fitzpatrick, T. Kelly; C. Malone, I. Galvin, D. Fitzgerald; A. Shanagher, A. McCarthy, M. Rodgers.

Subs for Clare: S. Meehan for T. Kelly (inj 29); C. Guilfoyle for M. Rodgers, R. Taylor for I. Galvin (both 63); S. Golden for P. Fitzpatrick (70).

Red card: L. Corry (straight, 57).

WEXFORD: M. Fanning; S. Reck, S. Donohoe, Joe O’Connor; K. Foley; C. Flood, G. Bailey, M. O’Hanlon; D. O’Keeffe, L. Chin; L. McGovern, A. Nolan, R. O’Connor; M. Dwyer, D. Dunne.

Subs for Wexford: L. Corry for S. Donohoe (temp 13-17); Jack O’Connor for Joe O’Connor (46); C. Hearne for A. Nolan, C. Devitt for M. Dwyer (both 51); H. Kehoe for D. Dunne (70).

Sin bin: Joe O’Connor (35+5).

Red card: M. O’Hanlon (second yellow, 70+2).

Referee: F. Horgan (Tipperary).