Notts County captain Michael Doyle revealed how his team-mates nicknamed him the “Monk” at half-time of their remarkable 3-1 win over Dagenham.
The Magpies’ skipper played 75 minutes of the National League clash in goal after Sam Slocombe was sent off for a lunge on Darren McQueen which handed the visitors a penalty.
But Paul McCallum smacked the upright from the spot which meant Notts preserved their 1-0 lead which had been given to them by Kyle Wootton’s early strike.
Further goals before half-time from Ruben Rodrigues and Wootton put Notts firmly in the driving seat against all the odds.
But Doyle proved his worth when he made a fabulous save moments before the interval when he denied McQueen from point-blank range.
Although he was beaten by Matt Robinson’s strike in second-half stoppage time, it was not enough to take the shine off a memorable performance by the Irishman.
And he revealed how the players dubbed him the “Monk” from the film Mean Machine in which Jason Statham’s character, a dangerous prison inmate, helps a group of convicts beat the guards in a football match.
“The lads were calling me the Monk at half-time,” he joked.
“Then afterwards I was getting my head put on pictures on Manuel Neuer.
“We had a good laugh about it. But it was great. The lads were fantastic.
“To go down to 10 men and get the result was brilliant."
Doyle said he was frustrated not to keep a clean sheet as Notts moved up to fifth in the league table.
“I was thinking who can I shout at?” he said.
“My positioning probably wasn’t great.
“It went right in the corner and had one of the lads (goalkeepers) been in there they would have probably saved it.
“Thank God it was in the 90th minute.”
