Dublin claimed a rare victory over Wexford and booked their place in a first Leinster Senior Hurling Championship final since 1991, following a two-point victory at Nowlan Park on Sunday.

Alan McCrabbe was in stunning form for the eventual winners with ten points, and although exiting the field through injury late on, the Craobh Chiarain clubman was key to Dublin's success.

Leinster SHC Semi-Final:
Dublin 0-18 Wexford 1-13

His side had to withstand some testy moments in the closing stages – the loss of McCrabbe through injury was followed by the 62nd minute dismissal of key-player Kevin Flynn, after he picked up a second yellow card.

However not even the scoring brilliance of Diarmuid Lyng could take victory away from Dublin, who sealed a two-point win following an insurance point from Simon Lambert in injury-time.

There were plenty of signs early in this game, that the Metropolitans were fired up to claim victory, and a rare Leinster final appearance.

Anthony Daly's charges looked very sharp in the opening half and quickly powered to an 0-8 to 0-2 lead after 20 minutes, following David Treacy's first score of the contest.

Kilkenny manager Brian Cody who was in attendance would have certainly been impressed by Dublin's clinical work early on, with McCrabbe slotting over five of those early scores, with Shane Durkin and Treacy also on target.

As Wexford tried to come to terms with Dublin's brilliance, the Slaneysiders found frustration setting in with four yellow cards in the opening half.

Lyng, Tomas Waters, David 'Doc' O'Connor and Malachy Travers had all entered the book of referee Cathal McAlister by the interval.

After Wexford's shaky start they edged their way back into this game thanks to the efforts of Lyng, Willie Doran and Stephen Banville but Dublin still held command at half-time on an 0-11 to 0-7 score-line.

A goal from substitute Nicky Kirwan gave Wexford the lift they needed on the restart, and although the sides were level in the 44th minute, following Lyng's fourth point to leave the score at 1-10 to 0-13, Dublin showed great hunger in the final quarter.

Scores from David O'Callaghan and McCrabbe edged Dublin three points clear with 21 minutes remaining, but scores suddenly were at a premium, with defences coming out on top.

It would take a further 14 minutes for either side to produce a score with Simon Lambert helping to edge Dublin into a 0-17 to 1-10 advantage.

Lyng was on fire in the closing stages as three unanswered points, including two frees, cut the gap to the minimum as injury-time approached.

However Dublin withstood this Wexford onslaught and the loss of both Flynn and McCrabbe in the closing ten minutes to hold out for victory, with Lambert's second point the vital insurance score.

Scorers for Dublin: A McCrabbe 0-10 (9f, 1 '65); D Treacy 0-2; D O'Callaghan 0-2; S Lambert 0-2; S Durkin 0-1, L Rushe 0-1,

Scorers for Wexford: D Lyng 0-7 (6f); N Kirwan 1-0; D Redmond 0-2; W Doran 0-1, S Banville 0-1, S Doyle 0-1, H Kehoe 0-1.

Dublin: G Maguire; N Corcoran, T Brady, O Gough; S Hiney, J Boland, M Carton; J McCaffrey, S Durkin; D Treacy, P Kelly, K Flynn; D O'Callaghan, L Rushe, A McCrabbe. Subs: D Sweeney for McCrabbe '60, S Lambert for Corcoran '62

Wexford: D Fitzhenry; M Travers, P Roche, D O'Connor; M Jacob, R Kehoe, C Kenny; D Lyng, P Atkinson; W Doran, T Waters, R Jacob; D Redmond, S Banville, S Doyle. Subs: N Kirwan for Atkinson 'HT; J Tonks for Kehoe '53; PJ Nolan for Banville '54; E Martin for R Jacob '66.

Referee: Cathal McAlister (Cork)