The people of Rathmullan are going to be talking about this goal for years and years to come.
As the county that gave us Seamus Coleman, Shay Given and Packie Bonner amongst others, Donegal’s reputation as something a footballing hotbed is very well-earned.
The name Niall Carruthers might not roll off the tongue as easily as those mentioned above, but anybody who saw him bamboozle the defenders of White Strand on the way to scoring a frankly ridiculous goal earlier this week isn’t going to forget it in a hurry.
Carruthers actually scored a hat-trick for Rathmullan in a 5-2 win over local rivals White Strand in the Joseph Sheridan Memorial Cup, but there was no doubting which goal was the pick of the bunch.
After what could generously be described as a misdirected attempt on goal at the other end of the pitch, Rathmullan broke with speed down the right wing before the ball eventually arrived at the feet of Carruthers inside the White Strand area.
After a pirouette that Zinedine Zidane would be proud of to evade one defender, Carruthers then dragged the ball away from another before deceiving two opposition defenders and the goalkeeper with one last piece of skill before tapping the ball into the open net.
Feast your eyes on this and try not to drool in the process…
Niall Carruthers Goal from Visit Donegal on Vimeo.
As Enda McElhinney, who kindly sent the footage our way, said: “The three Strand defenders were sent to the shops and returned with four sliced pans and 20 Major!”
Rathmullan, you may remember, attracted attention during the World Cup by going all out to support Peru during the tournament, but somehow we think that this effort by Carruthers will overtake that as the highlight of the summer from a sporting perspective.
Genius.
Cheers to Enda McElhinney for sending this our way. Got a story for JOE? Fill out our online form here.
