A Man of the Match display from Shane McGuigan helped a relentless Derry put Clare to the sword at Croke Park, and advance to their first All Ireland Semi-Final since 2002 with a clinical victory over Clare this afternoon.

The Oak Leaf County can now sit back and watch on tomorrow with the winner of the first semi-final between Galway and Armagh being their opponents for the Semi-Final in two weeks' time.

Derry managed to pick apart a tight Clare defence on a number of occasions with three first-half goals giving them control of the game from the off. Their transition from defence to offence was crucial in getting scoring opportunities and the Banner struggled to cope with some fantastic well-executed tactics from Rory Gallagher's men.

Both teams from the off set up with big defensive blocks to prevent the attacks from their opposition, Clare adapting to the style that has been on display for a number of Ulster Championship games so far this season. 

The setups led to a low-scoring opening period of the match with 5 of the first 6 attempts at goal ending up wide. Niall Loughlin was fouled on his attempt at the seven-minute mark and popped over the free for the first score of the game.

The opening goal of the game came at the ten-minute mark. Derry capitalised on a poor Clare kick out with Ethan Doherty picking up the ball, passing off to Benny Herron who made no mistake smashing the ball past O’Callaghan to put the Oak Leaf men four points up.

Derry added the one-two punch moments later. Some fantastic build-up play to break down a stout Clare defence led to Doherty once again offloading to Conor Glass this time who rattles the roof of the net with a sublime strike. Derry were well in control early on. 

The Banner had to wait until the 16th minute to get their opening score of the game, Eoin Cleary adding a free but Shane McGuigan followed with a dead ball score of his own for the Oak Leaf men to put Derry seven points in the lead after 20 minutes. 

Derry threatened to put the game to bed with three scores in three minutes, two from McGuigan and one from Glass, but this seemed to awake the Banner as Jamie Malone scored their first point from play on 31 minutes. 

Pearse Lillis found the ball inches from the Derry goal in a rare lapse of concentration from the Ulster Champions and Lillis rattled the Clare net giving them life before the break. Eoin Cleary added another quick score to bring Clare to within double scores, showing promise for the first time.

Derry hit back in additional time at the end of the half though, ending the Clare comeback through Paul Cassidy who raised the green flag with another fantastic finish, this time a right-footed effort that nestled into the top left corner at the Davin end. 

Derry led by 9 at the break on a scoreline of 3-6 to 1-3. 

The Oak Leaf men continued the second half as they ended the first, adding their fourth goal of the game just five minutes in. This time it was Gareth McKinless who smashed once more high over a demoralised O’Callaghan in the Clare net. 

Benny Herron and Conor McCloskey pointed from play to extend the Derry lead shortly after.

Clare thought they had a lifeline when Eoin Cleary capitalised on poor decision-making from Odhran Lynch, beating him to the ball and rolling it into the back of the net but Derry immediately made a mends through star forward Shane McGuigan who broke through to score off his left foot and re-establish the heavy Derry lead. 

Eoin Cleary continued to show there was still a spark in the Clare fight, with a number of scores from play but his counterpart Shane McGuigan matched everything He did as they exchanged scores a number of times with the game drawing to a close. 

Shane McGuigan added his final score of the game on the 66th minute, with 1-8 totaled. An impressive 1-7 from play and an extra point from a free before being subbed off. A superb individual Championship performance.

Derry held the ball in the closing stages to prevent any late dramatics that Clare would’ve looked to repeat as they did to Roscommon, but the Ulster Champions proved a step too far for a Banner side that will come away from this All Ireland series quite confident in their progression this year. 

David Tubridy added the final score of the game at the death so bring the scoreline to exactly double scores to finish. 

The final scoreline in Croke Park, Derry 5-13 2-8 Clare.