Pick it out.
Whatever TJ Reid can do, Amy Clifford can do just as well. The Ballyhale maestro dropped jaws with his minor miracle against St Thomas’ last weekend and while the Galway men could hardly believe it, the Oulart-the-Ballagh women must have felt just as shocked this time around.
Because Amy Clifford’s finish was just as good.
Dicksboro won a free thirty yards out from the goal and even though they had a lead to chase down, everyone in Abbotstown must have thought Clifford was going to take her point. That was the moment when, with six Oulart women to beat, she resurrected this Leinster senior camogie final with a moment of pure magic.
The Kilkenny minor captain must have noticed a gap to Lauren Sinnott’s right-hand-side but ideas and execution are two different things. The idea was good and seconds later, the execution was even better as the corner forward sent a sliotar through the eye of a needle.
Thankfully for us, Jerome Quinn was streaming the game because to believe it you’d have to see it. It’s a very rare and difficult skill to hit the near top corner but Clifford measured it to perfection.
Amy Clifford of @BoroCamogie showed at the weekend that TJ Reid isn't the only Kilkenny person who can thread needles from 30 yards
Honest to God what a finish 🎯pic.twitter.com/IGUCjiEsYs
— GAA JOE (@GAA__JOE) February 2, 2022
In the end, it wasn’t enough as an experienced Oulart-the-Ballagh team held out to win by two – Sinnott pulled off a great save from Clifford right at the death – and it’s the Wexford team who advance to a semi-final as they aim to make it two All-Irelands in a row.
The brilliant Shelley Kehoe and Ciara Storey were Oulart’s stars on the day but saying that, it’s Clifford’s moment of magic that everyone in Abbotstown will remember.
The multi-talented Clifford, who has also played for the Irish soccer team at secondary school level, certainly looks like a huge prospect for club and county.
