Luck dealt the decisive hand at the Gaelic Grounds yesterday. After a tight and wholehearted semi-final, the future of Patrickswell in the championship was reduced to one puck.

Well into injury-time and leading by a point, Sixmilebridge conceded a 65. The crowd of around 3,500 looked instinctively at Gary Kirby, the man most people would like to have addressing a 65 in such circumstances. But he didn't move and instead young Eoin Foley took his chances. Still a minor, he struck the ball confidently, but it tailed to the right.

Afterwards it was revealed that Kirby, the sharp point of their scoring capacity, had been carrying a shoulder injury all week. Word of it had been successfully suppressed and, during the first half, he rifled over six points, but exacerbated the damage during the second half.

"It's a team game," said Kirby. "I just couldn't have come out and taken it. It wouldn't have been right." The disclosure explained a few uncharacteristic actions during the match's climax. Kirby had already missed a 65 in the 55th minute and had appeared uncommonly anxious to handpass the ball away in play. "It was only at the last minute we decided to play him," said Patrickswell manager PJ O'Grady. "He told me he wasn't able (to take the 65). If he was able he'd take it."

So after 64 minutes of action, the narrowest of margins separated the clubs and Clare's grip on this championship was maintained. The county is in line for a sixth successive provincial title and Sixmilebridge, who started the sequence in 1995, will have the chance to perpetuate it against Mount Sion of Waterford.

Kirby's injury proved a fatal blow to a team over-dependent on his scoring capacity from centrefield. With the main strike-force curtailed, the Limerick champions' attack was unable to take up the slack. Only two points were added in the second half as the 'Bridge, exploiting their turn with a stiff wind, overhauled the interval deficit of four points, 0-6 to 0-10.

Star injuries were shared with Sixmilebridge manager Paddy Meehan explaining afterwards that full forward Niall Gilligan could not remember 25 minutes of the match and had gone to hospital with concussion - placing a doubt over his participation in next week's final.

But the Clare champions had other matchwinners, most prominent amongst them John Reddan and John O'Connell. At different extremes of their respective careers, both played really well, particularly in the second half.

Reddan was moved to centre forward to accommodate the return of Stiofan Fitzpatrick to centrefield. He persecuted Ciaran Carey all the way through the second half, restraining the great centre back's attacking instincts and taking him for, in all, five points from play.

At full back, O'Connell was immense. He missed only one ball - and recovered the situation for a 65 - on an afternoon when first-time gathering was as rare as icecream vendors. Afterwards Meehan paid tribute: "The man that retired early in the year, but I spoke to him and we got him back. His hurling did the talking today, it was one of the great full back displays. Never write off the 35-year old."

He explained that the team's month-long break (as opposed to Patrickswell's two matches in that period) had been carefully planned. They went to the trouble of getting players off work for afternoon training and, by the time they played All-Ireland champions Athenry in a challenge match a week ago, "we knew we were right," according to Meehan.

"We gave away too many frees in the first half and we had to cut it down and the only way to do that is get to the ball first. And fortunately we got the winner."

In the first half, it was Patrickswell harnessing the wind and on top. Kirby carried a disproportionate scoring burden, but Paul O'Grady chipped in with two points. After the interval, the 'well got a good supply into the forwards, but the Sixmilebridge defence was like clingfilm and only two points were conceded over the half-hour.

At the other end, the winners moved the ball intelligently and, with 10 minutes to go, a brace of points from Reddan pushed the Clare side into the lead. Barry Foley equalised in the 56th minute, but with a draw beginning to loom on the dusky horizon, Martin Conlon hit the decisive point.

Patrickswell threw the lot at it in injury-time. At one stage Ciaran Carey came tearing through the middle and someone shouted, "he's going to do it to ye again". But there was to be no reliving the Bloomsday heroics of four years ago and the stage was set for the concluding drama.

SIXMILEBRIDGE: D Fitzgerald; K McInerney, J O'Connell, A Chaplin; A Mulready, P Hayes, D Murphy; C Chaplin, S Fitzpatrick (0-1); M Conlon (0-1), J Reddan (0-5), B Kennedy; B Culbert (0-1), N Gilligan (0-3, one free), J Chaplin (0-1). Subs: J O'Meara (0-1) for Kennedy (28 mins); R Conlon for Culbert (55); B Culbert for J Chaplin (58).

PATRICKSWELL: N O'Grady; W Morrissey, A Foley, P Earls; P O'Reilly (0-1), C Carey, D Foley; G Kirby (0-6, four frees), P Carey; T O'Brien (0-1), P O'Grady (0-2), A Carmody; E Foley (0-1), D O'Grady, B Foley (0-1). Subs: J McDermott for Carmody (43 mins).

Referee: W Barrett (Tipperary).