Irish midfielder Michael Doyle hailed his GAA background after finding himself in goal for Notts County's 3-1 win over Dagenham.
The Magpies captain was required to don the gloves after goalkeeper Sam Slocombe was sent off early in the first half of their National League clash.
With Notts having no substitute goalkeeper on the bench, Doyle’s first job was to face a penalty for which Slocombe saw red after a daft lunge on Darren McQueen, reports Nottinghamshire Live.
But Paul McCallum rattled the post with his spot-kick to ensure that Notts protected their 1-0 lead handed to them by Kyle Wootton’s early strike.
Against all the odds, Notts incredibly extended their lead through a wonderful effort from Ruben Rodrigues and then Neal Ardley’s side made it 3-0 when Wootton grabbed his second of the game.
However, Doyle showed his cat-like reflexes to stop Notts from conceding on the stroke of half-time when he thwarted McQueen from point-blank range.
He was eventually beaten late on when Matt Robinson but Ardley’s side produced an incredible defensive display to claim all three points.
Speaking after the game, the Dubliner said: "A couple of weeks ago, there, I was playing centre-half in training in one of the games and the gaffer and Greg [Abbott, assistant manager] were saying, ‘We might have to put you in there if it comes to injuries.’
"I said, ‘Ah, no problem.’ I was thinking, ‘The older I’m getting, the further back I’m going,’ but I didn’t think I’d bloody end up in goal!
"I played a lot of Gaelic when I was younger with my brothers and that, up in our local GAA club, St Mark’s in Tallaght where I grew up, and I loved it. And thank God for all those years playing Gaelic, catching the ball — it kind of came in handy.
“To be fair, the lads in front of me were amazing. It was a joy to watch them tonight with 10 men, the way they played. Al the credit goes to them."
