An Irish footballer scored a phenomenal 75-yard goal from his own half of the pitch, and it was longer than the furthest field goal in NFL history

BBC Sport

McDermotts' goal was a screamer.

• Irish footballer Conor McDermott scored an astonishing 75-yard goal from his own half on Saturday.
• The 22-year-old first lifted the ball over an opposition player's head before taking a touch and rifling the ball half the length of the field into the net.
• "The ball sat nicely after the flick and I saw the goalkeeper off his line so thought 'Why not?'" the Cliftonville midfielder told News Letter.
• He then celebrated like Cristiano Ronaldo, lifting his shorts and pointing to his quadricep.
• Read more of our soccer coverage here.
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The longest field goal in NFL history was kicked by Matt Prater for the Denver Broncos in December 2013. It was 64 yards.

On Saturday, the Irish soccer player Conor McDermott shattered that feat when he scored an astonishing 75-yard strike from his own half.

Cliftonville was 1-0 up against Warrenpoint in the 26th minute at Solitude when McDermott collected the ball on the edge of the center circle following a lengthy clearance from the Warrenpoint defense.

Rather than lump it back as expected however, what the 22-year-old did next was extraordinary.

With the ball bouncing, McDermott first lifted the ball over the head of a chasing attacker before taking a neat touch, looking up, and spotting the keeper ever so slightly off of his line.

With pinpoint precision, he then struck the ball over half the length of the field, lobbing the keeper.

McDermott celebrated the goal like Cristiano Ronaldo, by lifting his shorts and slapping his quadricep.

Watch McDermott's incredible effort here:

"The ball sat nicely after the flick and I saw the goalkeeper off this line so thought, 'Why not?'" the Irishman told News Letter after the match. "After I flicked it, I looked up and had a couple of seconds. I saw him just past the six-yard box so felt there was a chance it could go in if I hit it well.

"The second touch set it up and I struck it clean, if I didn't connect that way it probably wouldn't have gone in. It's one of those things - happy days."

While admitting his luck however, McDermott also said he'd been practising the goal in the hopes an opportunity might present itself on match day.

"To be fair, in training a couple of times I've scored a few like that too and thought the worst that could happen is the goalkeeper collects the ball or it goes over."

Cliftonville won 4-0 on the day, meaning it now sits second in the NIFL Premiership, just one point behind league leader Coleraine FC.

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