Sunday League team’s unique corner routine that led to an extraordinary goal goes viral, as the scorer reveals how they pulled it off… and admits it hasn’t always gone to plan!
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A unique corner routine that worked to perfection in a Sunday League match has gone viral on social media.
The match saw AFC Hackleton playing in the Nene Sunday League in Northamptonshire last weekend, and during the match they were awarded a corner.
As both teams lined up in the penalty area to await the corner kick, one of the AFC Shackleton players walked to the quadrant and laid the ball down before rolling his studs over the ball and walking away.
His teammate ran towards it, with the opponent clearly thinking he was about to take the corner, but instead he started dribbling the ball towards the penalty area after realizing the set-piece had already been taken.
As he reached the edge of the penalty area, he fired a left-footed shot over the goalkeeper and into the far corner, after being barely closed by the opponent who had reacted far too late to what was going on.
A Sunday League player rolled his studs over the ball to take a corner without the opponent knowing
His teammate then ran towards goal and fired a shot into the far corner of the net
The players celebrated wildly after their corner routine worked to perfection
When his shot hit the back of the net, the goalscorer pulled away and was mobbed by his teammates as they celebrated their clever corner routine, resulting in a goal.
After hundreds of thousands of fans watched the video of the goal online, goalscorer Calvin Green explained how he achieved it.
“It wasn't in the plans at all,” he told the newspaper BBC. 'I just ran over to grab the corner like I normally do, and he said, “I took this.”
AFC Hackleton manager Dan Porter was delighted his team's corner led to a goal but admitted he would be 'furious' if his side let in a similar goal.
“If I were the defending team, I would be more furious that my guys were dropping than that the other team, in my eyes, was smarter.
“I think you, like the defending team, are probably frustrated with that goal because you knocked out.”
Things couldn't have gone better for AFC Hackleton this weekend, but Green admitted they have looked foolish trying in the past.
“We did it a few times on Saturday for Bugbrooke, who we play for, and the boy who actually took the corner also plays for Bugbrooke,” he added.
“Dan actually tried it last week and the kid saw it and he obviously got the ball before I could get there. You win what you lose some.
“I feel like we've completed that one now, so we don't have to do it again. We'll find something new, I think.'
The same corner kick trick that Manchester United previously used against Chelsea in the Premier League in the 2008-2009 season.
On that occasion, Wayne Rooney touched the ball lightly before Ryan Giggs ran with it into the penalty area and headed home ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo.
However, the assistant referee was not happy with the routine and indicated that the corner should be retaken, leaving United's players apoplectic.
Yet United actually scored from the next corner through Nemanja Vidic to beat Blues 3-0 at Old Trafford thanks to second-half strikes from Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov.