NOT even with a Playstation controller in his hands and a computerised Lionel Messi scampering across the screen could Kyle McAllister recreate the goal that signified his first in senior football.
Pity he didn’t even see it hitting the net in the first place.
Just a couple of hours after the event, which took place on Tuesday night during St Mirren’s 5-1 Scottish Cup win over Spartans, the 17-year-old, still sauntered into the Paisley 2021 Stadium. Thanks to the wonders of youthfulness and a dab of euphoria, he seemed blissfully unaware of the meteoric moment which had just befallen him. Or, to put it differently, he had just created.
The level of opposition should not detract from the wonder of this young man’s coming of age as a senior footballer, a moment that will surely be talked about for years to come by the 1147 who saw it in the flesh, and the thousands that have already logged on to YouTube to watch it on demand. I’m sure maw McAllister will have been one of them.
Just 30 minutes into the game, the academy graduate picked the ball up 25 yards into his own half before going on a mazy run. His pace, quick feet and ability to keep the ball glued to his feet while hurdling challenges was almost Messiesque as he galloped 80 yards up the park to the edge of the opposition box and thundered a ferocious shot in off the underside of the bar.
“I don’t think I’ve scored a goal like that before, that’s probably my best,” said McAllister, the gaggle of auld, frost-bitten hacks looking at each other wondering what his previous efforts must have been like to merit a probably. “I’ve scored a couple in the youth but not at U20s level.
“Yeah it was. What a feeling it was to score. I knew before the game that it could be the game that I score my first goal, it just so happened in a very good way.
“I think because I came inside I had so much space I thought I may as well just run with it until a defender comes out. Nobody came until the edge of the box so I thought ‘I’ll take him on, have a shot and see what happens’.
“My mum, dad, brother and his girlfriend were there on the night. I didn’t speak to them straight after it but my phone was probably buzzing!
“It was almost like a Fifa goal! Not that I can, remember, because I rolled over as I shot it I was looking the other way."
He was quickly reassured it wasn’t a bad hit.
The teenager may be just about old enough to hold a driving licence but the journey to the St Mirren first-team has already been littered with obstacles, pitfalls and a fairly brave detour out of academy football.
McAllister was originally part of the youth set up at Murray Park only for repeated injury to curtail his progress and dash his hopes of one day making it into the Rangers senior side. Instead, he took the unenviable decision of dropping out of the pro youth setup to rediscover his fitness, form, and belief. It is a trip that seems to have done him the world of good.
“It’s really good because I was at Rangers when I was younger where there are so many people ahead of you," he explained.
“You start to think if you are ever going to make it but if you come here it’s easier. It’s a boost to your confidence.
“It was injuries that made me leave Rangers. I just kept getting setbacks and it wasn’t working for me. I went back to boys club football for a year to get rid of my injuries then came to St Mirren. Ever since I came back from my injuries I train every day with the first team.
“I still have my duty group though! I clean the physio room, the canteen, clean boots and do the water bottles for the first team.”
Away from his mop and bucket, this was just McAllister’s fifth game of a troubled season for St Mirren.
Still without a win in the league, there was a feeling – or perhaps just a great hope – that Tuesday night’s emphatic result, albeit against semi-pro players, could somehow give the team from Paisley the urgent jolt it needs to get points on the board.
Five straight defeats in their last five games with just one scored doesn’t offer much cause for optimism going to the Falkirk Stadium today. Still, McAllister, brimming with youthful optimism across his mature shoulders, feels the time is coming for the tide to turn.
“Hopefully it gives us a boost because over the past few weeks we’ve played well without hitting the net,” he said. “Against Spartans we finished well.
“I feel each week we have been progressing and me and Lewis Morgan have been getting better chances.”
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