Invincibles.
The Dublin footballers couldn’t do it, the Galway hurlers couldn’t do it, the only GAA team, either men or women that could was the ladies footballers of Tipperary.
Nobody could lay a finger on the Premier county’s ladies from their first outing in this year’s league campaign against Wexford way back in January, to their last against Tyrone on Sunday.
In the intervening nine months, they’ve managed promotion to division two in the Lidl ladies NFL, and an All-Ireland intermediate triumph, and they’ve done it all unbeaten.
Not a bad year’s work.
They went through the whole year undeterred, undaunted and unbeaten.
It wouldn’t be fair to say that this group of players were head and shoulders above all the competition they faced, because twice, in both the league and Championship, they drew with Wexford and required extra-time and a replay respectively in order to settle matters.
But that is a testament to this bunch of players, though, that even when they were under the cosh, staring defeat in the face, they just weren’t accepting it.
There’s heart, there’s spirit, there’s exceptional, exceptional skill.
D only unbeaten team in d gaa dis year men or women what a team @TippLadiesFB 😂😂🏆🏆Hon Tipp🏆🏆
— Alan O' Connor (@aocon74) September 24, 2017
Nobody encapsulates the upturn in Tipperary’s fortunes better than their 19-year-old Cahir conductor Aishling Moloney.
The DCU student plays the game with abandon, she expresses herself, she’s a breath of fresh air. Tipperary’s dynamic centre forward is the fulcrum around which this team revolves, and the 13-41 she has scored throughout their campaign is a true reflection of this.
Just let that sink in for a minute, 13-41, and she’s not even their main free-taker, with the majority of these scores coming from play.
A privilege to play alongside, a joy to win with 👌🏻💪🏻🐝🐝 #OneOfTheBest pic.twitter.com/veX98gplNz
— Aisling McCarthy (@aish_mac) September 25, 2017
If a male footballer achieved a feat like this, we’d be singing all the way to the heavens to mark it, and rightly so, like we’ve done with David Clifford, but Moloney is only a year older than Clifford, is playing at an adult level and is an absolute class apart from all opponents she has faced.
When you watch her play, though you understand. Because she glides over the turf with the ball, her running and soloing of the ball are phenomenally well in sync.
She tracks back, involves teammates, she does everything right, and that’s the reason Tipperary women’s football is on the way back.
She has a serious bunch of teammates around her, too, all of whom are rowing in the one direction under Cork manager Shane Ronayne, and you wouldn’t bet against them making waves in senior next year.
Watch this space.
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