Dundalk midfielder Jordan Flores has said that his wonder goal against Shamrock Rovers was supposed to be a header, not a volley.
The midfielder revealed on The Football Show on Monday night that when Dundalk rehearsed the set-piece routine in training, he had been heading the ball rather than volleying it
It makes the potential Puskas Award nominee goal that more remarkable that Flores had the ability to adjust while the ball was in flight.
“I usually go short at the corners and after the goal I scored against Cork we decided to switch it up and hopefully something would drop for me at the edge of the box,” said Flores.
“We worked on that set-piece a few times in training with my head and missed the target so I thought, ‘why not volley it this time?’
“Just the way I reacted with the ball coming over I didn’t think it was that high so I’ve just gone with the volley and it went in,” he said.
Pat Nevin, who was also on Monday’s Football Show, said he watched Flores’ strike six times and still couldn’t understand how the former Wigan player managed to score it.
“He looks as if he’s going to pop his hip out of its joint when he gets his body into that position.
“I still have no understanding of what Jordan [Flores] did there. It’s really, really weird,” Nevin said.
Jordan Flores admitted that everything happened so fast after Michael Duffy over hit the corner that his instincts took over and he was just focused on connecting with the ball.
“Just the way I reacted with the ball coming over, I didn’t think it was that high so I just [went] with the volley and it went in,” he said.
“You see it dropping down and you have to watch your foot and you’re just thinking about making a good connection.
“And as you can see, if you make a good connection the power of the ball will do the rest. By the time I looked up the ball was in the net,” Flores admitted.
An alternative angle of Flores' strike has surfaced on social media and appears to show the Shamrock Rovers goalkeeper getting his hand to the shot.
For some people, the fact Mannus got a hand to the volley may perhaps take the shine off it a bit. However, for most of the footballing world, it remains a goal of the highest quality.
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