Eimear Ryan: Sideline specialists closing gap further between camogie and hurling

In hurling, converted sidelines have become, if not quite routine, then common enough; but in camogie they remain something of a freak occurrence.

Rebecca Hennelly of Galway with her father Gerry and seven-month-old niece Anna O'Reilly following last year's All-Ireland final win. Hennelly scored two points from sideline cuts (worth two points each) against Cork last weekend in a 0-15 to 0-12 win. Picture: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

Now we know how inter-county camogie players have been spending their spare time during lockdown. When the first sideline from Galway’s Rebecca Hennelly went over the bar with a satisfying thwock last Sunday, the 2,000 viewers tuning in to the live stream collectively oohed and aahed and felt that we had witnessed something rare.

But then, Cork’s Chloe Sigerson had a go at a pointed sideline too. Her effort went wide, but it had the legs, and on another day it might have gone over. When Hennelly pointed another one from the opposite touchline, I sat up straighter, sure that I was witnessing a pattern emerging, a new turning point in the sport.