Aishling Moloney is the personification of Tipperary rising.
Her blitzing performance of the mighty Cork, banging in 2-9 in a famous win for the Premier County on Saturday night, was another marker on the wooden door frame panel measuring the growth of this unstoppable Tipp machine. Specifically though, her leap into the skies to fist home a cosmic ball into the square felt like the accumulative action of an entire organisation.
She struck a blow for her county with an almighty punch of that O’Neill’s ball and she rose like the blue and gold is rising, not just mixing it with the big teams now, but schooling them too.
Tipperary came from seven down – six at half time – to utterly stun Cork in their own back yard and whilst the performance of Moloney will live long in the memory, her fisted goal in the second half will stand the test of time through the ages.
A long, high ball in from 40 yards out on the right wing from half back Bríd Condon dropped right on top of Moloney on the edge of the square and, as she held off the full back, she managed to connect the cleanest of fists with the leather and hook the O’Neill’s viciously over her head and flying into the back of the net.
This was no ordinary fisted goal, no scuffed effort undoing the ‘keeper and not even a goalie in sight to be fouled or beaten for position. This was just one spectacular strike of a dropping 40-yard high ball and it was struck with pure perfection by Aishling Moloney.
