An unbelievable match between Clare and Wexford at Ennis finished 2-25 apiece after extra time.

Both sides produced some heroic stuff on a day when hurling was the real winner.

Davy Fitzgerald's men played the entire second half of normal time with 14 men and trailed by three points when Wexford were awarded a 68th-minute penalty. Paul Morris opted to take his point but Clare instantly won a penalty at the other end. Seadna Morey netted after Tony Kelly's shot was saved and Conor Ryan stepped up to force extra time: Clare 1-21 Wexford 2-18 after 70 minutes.

Wexford led by 2-9 to 0-10 at half time - the goals coming from Conor McDonald and Liam Og McGovern - while Clare had been reduced to 14 men following the injury-time dismissal of dual star Podge Collins.

McGovern pointed the Model County into the lead from the left wing with 60 seconds on the clock and Andrew Shore followed up with a stunning point from inside his own half close to the right side line.

Paul Morris lofted over the Slaneysiders' third point on five minutes after Cathal McInerney had opened the Banner's account. Liam Dunne's men continued to dominate the early exchanges but a couple of disappointing wides did nothing to enhance their lead.

However, Conor McDonald added a goal for the visitors in the tenth minute when Clare goalkeeper Patrick Kelly dropped his fizzing shot over the line and a string of rapid-fire points from Lee Chin, Eoin Moore (free) and McGovern made it and eight-point game after twelve minutes - 1-6 to 0-1.

Midfielder David Redmond followed up with another great Wexford point from distance. A brace of Colin Ryan frees seemed to have steadied the All-Ireland champions but the Model men replied with a McGovern goal in the 17th minute to lead by ten, 2-7 to 0-3.

But Clare reeled off five of the next six points to trail by just six with ten minutes left before the break, Cathal McInerney, Conor McGrath and Colin Ryan (three frees) all on target while Morris notched the eighth Wexford point. Twelve minutes from the short whistle, Kelly made a fine stop to deny Rory Jacob a third Wexford major.

McGrath knocked over Clare's fifth successive point six minutes from the break and Shore replied from a free before Hurler of the Year Tony Kelly closed the first-half scoring to leave five between them at the turnaround. In stoppage time at the end of the first half, the Banner County were reduced to 14 men when Collins was shown a straight red card for interfering with Redmond's helmet.

The first four points of the second half were shared, Ryan's seventh following scores from Jack Guiney, Shore and Kelly. In between, David McInerney made a heroic block to deny Chin a third Wexford goal. Morris' fourth point of the day made it 2-12 to 0-12 after 42 minutes.

Ryan drilled over an excellent Clare free and there was a flurry of surprising wides at both ends before corner back Cian Dillon thumped over an inspirational long-range Banner County point in the 47th minute - 2-12 to 0-14.

Wexford recorded six wides in the first 14 minutes of the second half, most of them from very scoreable positions. McGrath's 51st-minute effort at the other end was equally wild.

Substitute Diarmuid O'Keeffe finally raised another white flag for the visitors with 19 minutes left; the 14 men replied instantly through a Ryan free. And on 53 minutes, Ryan (free) whacked over his tenth point of the match from another free, this one from nigh on ninety metres: 2-13 to 0-16.

With 16 minutes left, Kelly nicked possession to brilliantly spear over his third point from great distance, suddenly reducing the gap to just two points. Morris (free) replied on 56 minutes; Ryan made no mistake in the 59th minute after Clare were awarded a soft free.

The momentum had been with the 14 men for most of the second half but McGovern pointed wonderfully well to bring his own tally for the day to 1-3. With an hour played, three points separated the teams, 2-15 to 0-18. When McGovern fired his second point inside 60 seconds, McGrath replied (despite having his effort originally waved wide by an uncertain umpire).

Wexford survived an almighty scramble in their goalmouth after Ryan dropped in a long-range free and the Clare No.12 sent the resulting '65' wide before Kelly saved well from McGovern. Morris (0-6) made no mistake from the Wexford '65' and the underdogs led by four points with five minutes remaining.

Ryan (free) took his twelfth point on 66 minutes but Wexford were wrongly awarded a penalty 30 seconds later when McGovern was brilliantly tackled by Brendan Bugler as he bore down on goal. Morris opted to take his point...

Immediately at the other end, Keith Rossiter pulled McGrath down (after a great pass from substitute Darach Honan) and Clare were also awarded a penalty. With a minute left, Tony Kelly's penalty was saved on the line but substitute Seadna Morey followed up to flash the rebound to the back of the net! Centre back Conor Ryan tied the scores up on the stroke of 70 minutes.

Both sides had wides in injury time and the final whistle sounded as these two teams prepared to go to extra time in the Qualifiers for a second successive year.

Clare were restored to 15 men for the two periods of extra time and the action resumed after a break of almost 15 minutes. Chin restored Wexford's lead but the hosts then took the lead for the first time when Man of the Match McGrath calmly despatched a low shot to the net in the fifth minute of extra time.

The Model came back to level through points from Morris (free) and inspirational centre back Chin - 2-21 each.

A minute from the end of the first added period Kelly made a crucial point-blank save from Guiney at the town end after O'Keeffe's effort came back off an upright; Cathal McInerney slotted over an injury-time score to ensure that the Banner led by the minimum at half time in extra time.

Wexford would have wind advantage for the last ten minutes…

Kelly doubled the gap but substitute Ian Byrne replied and Rory Jacob tied the scores up again on 86 minutes, only for Conor McGrath to immediately edge the hosts back ahead. Two minutes from the end of extra time, Morris (free) drilled over his ninth point of the day from around the middle of the pitch.

Remarkably, full forward McGrath (1-5) whacked over the lead point for the Banner 30 seconds from time but Morris (0-10) replied 15 seconds later, which means this astonishing match will go to a replay.

Clare - P Kelly; C Dillon (0-1), D McInerney, J Browne; B Bugler, Conor Ryan (0-1), P O'Connor; C Galvin, P Donnellan; J Conlon, T Kelly (0-4), Colin Ryan (0-12, 8f, 1'65); C McGrath (1-5), C McInerney (0-2), P Collins. Subs: P Duggan for P Donnellan, D Honan for J Conlon, S Morey (1-0) for C Galvin, D O'Halloran for S Morey, S Morey for C McInerney, P Flanagan for P O'Connor.

Wexford - M Fanning; L Ryan, M O'Hanlon, K Rossiter; A Shore (0-1), E Moore (0-1f), C Kenny; L Chin (0-3), D Redmond (0-1); H Kehoe, P Doran, P Morris (0-10, 5f, 1'65); R Jacob (0-1), C McDonald (1-1), L Og McGovern (1-4). Subs: J Guiney (0-1) for R Jacob, G Sinnott for H Kehoe, D O'Keeffe (0-1) for D Redmond, PJ Nolan for P Doran, R Kehoe for A Shore, I Byrne (0-1) for C McDonald, W Devereux for K Rossiter, R Jacob for G Sinnott, C Devitt for L Chin.

Referee - C McAllister. Tweet

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