Michael Jones, what a hit.
The name of the young Derry man should live long in the memory of Solitude Stadium after his scorpion kick back-heeled goal lit up Belfast.
Oxford United Stars travelled to take on Cliftonville in the Northern Ireland Cup on Friday night and, although the boys from the north west ultimately left empty-handed after a 3-2 defeat in the under-12 section, they put in a performance of heart and class and produced a goal that will stand the test of time – even beyond the winning and losing of this competition.
It’s no surprise to see Oxford United Stars dabble in a bit of audacity and magic like this. They’re renowned in the Derry area for teaching their kids to play football the right way, the beautiful way, and for bringing through players all comfortable on the ball and all willing to take risks to make something happen.
So, as outrageous as Michael Jones’ goal was against Cliftonville, stuff like that can happen when youngsters are encouraged to express themselves.
“I think our second goal was possibly goal of the season,” Oxford coach Philip Devlin spoke with the brilliant Exsporté after the game.
“We’ve never played in a stadium like this before so, coming down to Belfast to play here, we’re quite happy with the performance and the boys did themselves justice.”
The goal was an equalising cracker as the side trailed 2-2 when Jones latched onto a cross into the box and lofted it over his own head and into the net with a piece of pure magic. Not unlike Olivier Giroud’s but maybe just a little bit better.
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