Wexford manager Keith Rossiter was happy to see his side pick up their first points of their Allianz League campaign but he was staying grounded after victory over the defending league and All-Ireland champions Clare.
The Yellowbellies made a slow start and were on the back foot when Tony Kelly buried an early goal. But they settled and grew into the game, with the breeze helping them before the break, and went in at half-time with a three-point lead.
Cian Byrne was keeping the scoreboard ticking over with frees but it was Seamus Casey's goal with 20 minutes to go that really broke Clare's resolve.
And Wexford looked comfortable enough from there as they eased to a six-point victory at Ennis.
"From the off we had a bad start, conceding 1-02 through our own mistakes. In fairness to them they kept going at it and it's a great win.
"We haven't been starting well the last little while. [It was] the same against Kilkenny two weeks ago, the first half was poor - I spoke publicly about that.
"In fairness to the lads they came out the second half against Kilkenny and I think we put 70-odd minutes into it today, which is great to see."
Wexford lost some experienced campaigners over the winter as Liam Óg McGovern, Matthew O'Hanlon and Diarmuid O'Keeffe all hung up their hurls.
Stalwart Lee Chin was making his first appearance of 2025 this afternoon after returning from travelling abroad, and he contributed four points during the game.
And for Rossiter, it was a critical element to be able to call upon more of their senior players as they look to put together a late push to avoid the drop.
"They're all coming back now, and we have one or two more still to come back. The squad is getting more experience every day we go out, which is great for the younger lads," the Wexford manager continued.
"You need a couple of the older heads around to steady the ship a little bit; that bit of advice, to win a free when you need a free. We had that today.
"We look forward to Tuesday night now, to go back - it's going to make it easier. We're not getting carried away. It was a great win, a good team performance, but we've Galway coming next weekend, Limerick a couple of weeks later.
"Isn't this just preparation for championship, getting the miles in? Hopefully we'll keep building on today."
