Irish League goalkeeper reflects on viral moment after scoring goal from his own box

In what is the latest viral moment to come from the Irish League, Breen’s kick from his own box in the dying moments of Saturday’s clash at Dixon Park skipped off the slippery surface and spectacularly looped in to round off a memorable afternoon for Stephen Small’s side.

Calvin McCurry netted a hat-trick while Owen McConville and Michael Morgan also scored, but there was only one thing that people have wanted to speak about.

Celebrating a first goal was undoubtedly surreal for Breen, who is on loan at Ballyclare from Cliftonville, and after a career of stopping shots rather than trying to score with them, the Reds youth product says he didn’t know how to react.

"My phone hasn't stopped but I've tried to stay away from it!" he laughs. “Coaching over the last few days has helped with that.

"There has been a lot of people reaching out over social media and it's hard to keep up with them all.

"I've probably watched it at least 10 to 20 times - if not more!

"As soon as the ball bounced on the edge of the box I was like 'that ball is going over his head'.

"I was in shock because I've never scored before – I had a penalty in my younger days and I hit the crossbar. That's about it.

"I was that shocked that it hit the back of the net that I didn't know what to do!

"I just stood there with the two arms up and let the boys come to me. We had a laugh after and it was great."

Breen has played every minute of Ballyclare’s Championship campaign as he continues to gain experience in senior football and also trains once a week with his parent club, who have been in red-hot form under Jim Magilton.

The Reds sit second heading into Friday night’s clash with Larne and coming up against the likes of Premiership top scorer Ben Wilson, Joe Gormley and Ronan Hale has further helped Breen’s development.

"I've had nightmares about Joe Gormley before!" he said. “Some of the goals that fella has scored past me in training are ridiculous.

"Ben is unbelievable. You could see from the first day he walked in how sharp he was and his eye for goal is brilliant.

"It's the first score I look for every week after my game. They've been super.”

No Championship team has collected more points at home this season than Ballyclare and they’ll be hoping to maintain their unbeaten record when Annagh United visit on Saturday.

That is in stark contrast to their away form – four points from six matches is the second-worst return in the league – and Breen is looking to make inroads on the six point gap leaders Portadown currently hold on fifth-placed Comrades.

"If you win two or three games in a row in the Championship you could be right up there, but if you lose two or three you could be fighting to stay in the league,” he added. "Our home form has been decent so hopefully we can carry that on.

"We haven't been beaten at home yet this season so fingers crossed that continues going into Saturday.

"If we can keep that going and sort our away form out, you never know where it could take us."