Newry native and Lincoln City striker Shay McCartan has been awarded the Sky Bet League Two Goal of the Month for January.
McCartan came first in the poll ran by Sky Sports and won 53% of the vote in the process writes Sean Forsthe.
The Lincoln City striker won the award for his memorable strike in a 2-2 draw with Swindon Town on 12 January. For any avid football fan, the volley will evoke memories of Tony Yeboah’s superb volley against Liverpool from 1995.
The move began from a goal kick for Lincoln which was nodded on and a failed clearance from the Swindon defender on the edge of his own box fell to McCartan. McCartan who was to the left of the goal and roughly 30 yards out from goal fired a bullet of a volley into the top right hand corner of the net leaving the helpless Swindon Goalkeeper to pick the ball out of the net and all those in the ground stunned by what they had just seen.
When the locals had paid their entrance fee at the gate they would have hardly imagined they would witness a strike which Paul Scholes in his prime would be proud of.
The goal will undoubtedly be a contender for Goal of the Season come the end of this campaign and will live long in the memories of those who were there to witness it.
McCartan originally from Newry has been plying his trade in the English Leagues now for a number of years. McCartan first joined Burnley on a two year apprenticeship from Glenavon having also played for Banbridge Town during his youth career.
Whilst at Burnley, McCartan was part of the FA Youth Cup squad which reached the semi-final stage and was the most successful side Burnley had in the competition since 1978.
McCartan left Burnley on an initial one month loan to join Hyde in 2013 before going on to join Accrington Stanley later in 2013 where McCartan enjoyed his most prolific period to date.
The Newry man spent four years with Accrington Stanley. While there he made 110 appearances for the club whilst also scoring 24 goals for the club.
Bradford City then signed McCartan for an undisclosed six figure sum in June 2017. He has spent this season on loan with Lincoln City who are currently two points clear at the top of League Two with a game in hand, and if McCartan keeps pitching in with goals like the one he scored against Swindon it is difficult not to see Lincoln being promoted at the end of the season.
