There’s 70 minutes on the clock but six more have been added by the referee.
Donegal are hanging on, three points to the good, they think they’ve done enough.
Cork smell that complacency and they’re pushing further forward, tackles being broken, lines being crossed and they’re looking like they can get inside the opposition rearguard if they want.
The ball is recycled and the Rebels decide to clip over to reduce the arrears and make it a nervy finish. The umpire is already wondering where his white flag is, the referee is reaching for his notepad when, from nowhere, Ciaran Gillespie comes flying – literally flying – through the Dublin air and flings his outstretched hands in the way to divert the ball in the other direction.
As diving blocks go, this is pure perfection.
It sums up what this sport is supposed to be about and it encapsulates what a place in the All-Ireland quarter-finals mean to the people of Donegal.
And it justified Rory Gallagher’s razor sharp thinking on the sideline who reacted to the introduction of Paddy Kelly immediately.
https://twitter.com/Woolberto/status/759419443973918720
It also won over the hearts of real GAA people who tune in to see this sort of thing.
Real men putting their bodies on the line and literally diving in the road of anything. For the cause.
It had to be admired.
A round of applause please.
Gillespie 👏👏
— Mark Farrelly (@MarkFarrelly131) July 30, 2016
Couldn’t agree more.
That's brilliant from Gillespie.
— Niall C (@nico754) July 30, 2016
Inspiring stuff.
That is an inspirational block by Ciaran Gillespie to deny Cork a point. The Rebels have scored in about 15 minutes #GAA
— Off The Ball Breakfast (@OffTheBallAM) July 30, 2016
When it mattered most.
For all the talk of a lack of intensity … two wonderful blocks from McGee & Gillespie in the game
— dontfoul (@dontfoul) July 30, 2016
From above.
https://twitter.com/Sean_MacBride/status/759425632992362496
Simple.
What a block #Gillespie
— Seán Gannon (@CannonGannon9) July 30, 2016
For all the scores, this really stood out.
Ciaran Gillespie, that is the best moment of the game, fantastic block! #GAA
— Shane Gray (@ShaneBubbaGray) July 30, 2016
The decider.
Inspirational stuff from Ciaran Gillespie! That block could be the decider in the end! #TheToughest 👏🏻
— AIB_GAA (@AIB_GAA) July 30, 2016
There are no words.
Ciaran Gillespie #block #donegalcork #donegal #cork
— Niall McCaughey (@NiallMcCaughey) July 30, 2016
He’s looking well.
Serious block from Gillespie! #CORvDON pic.twitter.com/NLxyPppcNM
— Ryan O'Dea (@O_Dea) July 30, 2016
Even those who weren’t sure who it was were taken aback.
Magnificent block from Donegal.
— Fingac15 (@fingac15) July 30, 2016
Unreal block there by Donegal
— Nollaig (@nollag92) July 30, 2016
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