Imagine how good you must be for people to see you standing over a free from an impossible angle and say, “Just put it over.”
Gary Sayers doesn’t need to f**k around. He doesn’t need to find a pass or lob it in or any of that nonsense. Just put the bloody thing over the bar. Impossible angle or not.
Keel and Ballydonoghue played out a nail-biting Division Three relegation playoff in Kerry on Sunday. The sides went the distance, 2-10 apiece at full-time. And, just when it looked like the game was being decided in extra-time, it wasn’t.
Ballydonoghue led 2-13 to 2-12. Seconds were left on the clock. Keel had a free right on the sideline on the left-hand side. Step forward, Gary Sayers.
The renowned half forward who helped lead Keel to a Munster junior title in 2013 doesn’t shirk responsibility. He doesn’t fear distance and he obviously sees the posts as wide as the proverbial barn door.
The same man had already kicked a 50-yard free at the end of normal time to force an extra 20 minutes and, with one last chance to rescue his club, he didn’t let them down.
So, in a mirror image of one of the most iconic pieces of football of all time, Strand Road was treated to its own piece of magic as Sayers curled over with his left from the left sideline.
Maurice Fitzgerald, 2001
Gary Sayers, 2016
They’ll tell folklore stories about this man and his 1-5 salvo that simply refused to allow his club to surrender.
Thanks to David Clifford for sending this our way. If you have any pieces of content you’d like to share with us, hit us up on Facebook or Twitter or send us an email at editorial@SportsJOE.ie.
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