North Melbourne youngster Paul Curtis has booted an electric goal of the year contender in his team’s clash with Sydney at Marvel Stadium on Saturday.
Late in the first quarter, Curtis gathered the ball deep in the forward pocket, shrugged off two Swans players and streamed slightly closer to goal before kicking truly on his left foot from an impossible angle.
“You won’t see many better than that this season, just shrugged a couple and away he went,” Fox Footy commentator Mark Howard said at quarter-time.
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And while many have thought Lions prodigy Will Ashcroft has goal of the year close to locked up for his brilliant finish against Fremantle in Round 7, he suddenly has another challenger.
Curtis’ remarkable goal even reminded St Kilda legend Leigh Montagna of some of Eddie Betts’ brilliant finishes.
“It’s probably hard because all these goals are brilliant, but everyone is still going: ‘Is it going to beat Will Ashcroft’s’s goal from earlier in the year?’” Montagna posed on Fox Footy.
“But this is really as good an individual effort as you’ll see from any forward. To be able to get on hands and knees, this is almost Eddie Betts (like). I don’t even know if Eddie Betts could fend off twice like that!
“But then the finish, that is an absolute top shelf goal from another one of their youngsters coming through the ranks.”
Crucially, it breathed life into the Kangaroos after they’d conceded three of the first four goals of the game against Sydney.
“It was a great response by the whole team but then that particular individual effort was just brilliant, to get a bit of vibe back in the game, particularly for the Roos,” three-time All-Australian Nick Dal Santo noted.
Asked which goal he preferred between Ashcroft’s and Curtis, Montagna said: “It still has to be Ashcroft.”
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