Clare dug deep in the second-half to down Kilkenny by 0-24 to 2-16 at Croke Park and move into their first All-Ireland senior hurling championship final in 11 years.

In what was the third consecutive meeting between these teams at this juncture of the Liam McCarthy Cup race, Brian Lohan’s men delivered the goods after the change of ends to book their final berth against Limerick or Cork on July 21st.

The Leinster champions had been in firm control after Eoin Cody’s brilliant effort found the Banner men’s net in the 24th minute, as they raced towards a deserved 1-10 to 0-8 half-time lead.

The points of Aidan McCarthy, Peter Duggan and Shane O’Donnell saw Clare make a promising restart, but they looked to be in a world of trouble when Billy Ryan got capitalised on an Eibhear Quilligan error to raise the Cats’ second green flag in the 46th minute.

The closing quarter saw the Banner man rise to the occasion however, keeping their opponents scoreless for the last 17 minutes at headquarters as Tony Kelly, Ian Galvin, Aidan McCarthy and Mark Rodgers grabbed the scores that got them level.

McCarthy’s 68th minute free steered the Munster side in front ahead of Kelly providing what proved the insurance point in injury-time, as Clare recorded their second ever championship win over Kilkenny in style.

FULL-TIME

KILKENNY 2-16
CLARE 0-24

Clare are through to the GAA Hurling Senior Championship Final ‼️@KilkennyCLG @GaaClare #GAANOW pic.twitter.com/4wpP6Y3oy6

— The GAA (@officialgaa) July 6, 2024

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