Josh Keeley is still in FA Cup dreamland – and told us how doing his homework got him there.
Our 21-year-old goalkeeper was the talk of the second round at the weekend as he ventured forward deep into stoppage time with his loan club, Leyton Orient, 1-0 down and on the brink of being eliminated from the competition by Oldham Athletic.
What followed was one of those magical moments the FA Cup is famous for.
With 99 minutes on the watch, Josh sensationally equalised with a superb header from a free-kick, sparking delirium among players and fans as he sent the tie to extra time.
Back between his own posts for the additional 30 minutes that followed, Josh and fellow Spurs loanee Jamie Donley helped the O’s push on to win 2-1 and book their place in the third round.
Speaking to us after the dust had settled on his big moment, Josh admitted he isn’t sure if he’ll ever live it down, but revealed how paying close attention in the team meetings in the build-up to the game led to his goal.
“I’m absolutely buzzing – words can’t describe the feelings I’ve been experiencing for the last 24, 48 hours. Honestly, I still can’t believe it and I don’t think I’m going to digest it any time soon!” said the youngster, whose parents – as they often do – had flown over from Ireland to watch their son in action.
“I’ve said it to everyone – ever since I became a goalkeeper, I’ve always dreamt of scoring from a corner or a set-piece, so it’s a dream come true. I think any keeper dreams about saving a penalty in the last minute – that’s a great feeling – but now I’ve experienced what it’s like to score in the last minute for your team, it’s unbelievable.
“When we got the free-kick, I initially looked at the board and I’d seen there were about 10 seconds left. I was kind of looking over at the bench but my manager wasn’t looking at me so I didn’t really know if I could go up, but someone ended up getting his attention and he looked over at me and just nodded his head, as if to say ‘go on’.
“I was jogging up for the free-kick and I remembered during the week we were watching clips (of Oldham) and they’d conceded a few goals from near-post crosses, so I was thinking, ‘I’m just going to get across the front post’.
“Obviously I was going to be the free man, no-one was going to mark me, I ended up getting a run on it and ended up flicking it in. I just remember running towards the corner flag afterwards – it was one of the best feelings I’ve ever had in my life.”
> I remembered during the week we were watching clips and they’d conceded a few goals from near-post crosses...
Of course, the Republic of Ireland Under-21 international isn’t the only Spurs goalkeeper to score a goal in his career – Pat Jennings, our legendary former stopper, famously scored for us in the 1967 Charity Shield against Manchester United, and has actually helped to mentor Josh at Hotspur Way in recent years through his role as our Academy goalkeeping consultant. His son, Patrick Jr, was also Josh’s goalkeeping coach at his former club in Ireland, St Patrick’s Athletic.
“I know Pat Jennings scored a goal years ago and it’s great because obviously I get along with Pat really well and his son Patrick is my old goalie coach,” added Josh. “It’s just great to have a role model like him and to achieve something like he did.
“The FA Cup, as everyone says, is renowned for its magic and its greatness and crazy ways of teams going through, and to be a main part of that was an unbelievable feeling. It was quite surreal to be honest and looking back at it, all I can just do is laugh because it’s something that I never ever thought I’d do in my career, especially being so young. Not a lot of keepers can say that they’ve scored a goal. It was absolutely brilliant.”