NOTTS COUNTY EARNED an extraordinary 3-1 victory over Dagenham & Redbridge in England’s National League on Tuesday night despite being reduced to 10 men for 75 minutes during which former Republic of Ireland midfielder Michael Doyle deputised in goal.
The 39-year-old, who earned his solitary international cap against Holland in 2004 while at Coventry City, attributed his competence between the sticks to the years he spent playing Gaelic football back in Dublin, and revealed post-match that his team-mates had taken to calling him ‘The Monk’ after Jason Statham’s character in Mean Machine as well as photoshopping his head onto Manuel Neuer’s body in pictures subsequently sent into the team WhatsApp group.
The club captain’s stint in goal has already seen him christened ‘Schmeichel Doyle’ by Notts County fans, while his manager Neal Ardley also praised Doyle’s GAA skills and “ability to play from the back” along with the efforts of the nine men in front of him.
Dagenham missed the penalty that had resulted in Doyle having to stand in net in the first place and he later made a string of saves, conceding only in the 91st minute with his side already 3-0 to the good.
Notts County win 3-1 against Dagenham & Redbridge, despite being with 10 men for most of the match and Michael Doyle playing in goal from the 22nd minute pic.twitter.com/QWkDIUD3Nz
— James Dart (@James_Dart) February 9, 2021
“A couple of weeks ago, there, I was playing centre-half in training in one of the games”, Doyle said, “and the gaffer and Greg [Abbott, assistant manager] were saying, ‘We might have to put you in there if it comes to injuries.’ I said, ‘Ah, no problem.’ I was thinking, ‘The older I’m getting, the further back I’m going,’ but I didn’t think I’d bloody end up in goal!
“I played a lot of Gaelic when I was younger with my brothers and that, up in our local GAA club, St Mark’s in Tallaght where I grew up, and I loved it. And thank God for all those years playing Gaelic, catching the ball — it kind of came in handy.
“To be fair, the lads in front of me were amazing. It was a joy to watch them tonight with 10 men, the way they played. Al the credit goes to them.”
While already 1-0 up, the hosts were reduced to 10 men in the 18th minute when starting goalkeeper Sam Slocombe took out Dagenham striker Darren McQueen inside the area, compounding his own misplaced pass.
Notts County, however, didn’t have a ‘keeper named on the bench, and so Ardley turned to skipper Doyle who saw the subsequent penalty by Paul McCallum crash off the post.
Doyle later denied McQueen just after the half-hour mark, moments before Ruben Rodrigues — who had initially asked to go in goal only to be rebuffed by Ardley — added to Kyle Wootton’s opener to double Notts County’s lead.
Doyle then saved Dagenham captain Dean Rance’s long-range effort before denying McQueen once more, with Wootton adding his second — and his side’s third — in first-half stoppage time.
Dagenham struggled to test Doyle in the second half until Matt Robinson added a supposed consolation for the visitors at the death.
We can't show you the goals until tomorrow evening, so we'll leave you with one of the skipper's many excellent saves from a quite incredible night! 🖤 pic.twitter.com/WYVnwoj1wi
— Notts County FC (@Official_NCFC) February 9, 2021
“To be honest with you”, Doyle said, “when Sam got sent off, I didn’t even realise we didn’t have a ‘keeper on the bench.”
He added of McCallum’s missed penalty: “I walked past the goal and he just started laughing at me. I knew straight away he probably wasn’t focused so I started having a laugh with him. At that stage, I was just thinking of Bruce Grobbelaar in the European Cup final in 1984 in Rome when he was dossing about! I thought, ‘I’m going to have a bit of a doss, here, like.’
“The lads were calling me ‘The Monk’ out of Mean Machine at half-time, and then after, in the group chat, they were putting in pictures of Manuel Neuer with my head and that. We’ve had a good bit of a laugh about it.
“My quad’s a bit, sore, actually, from all the goal kicks. I was trying to say to them in the second half, ‘Lads, play short, keep it short’, because my bloody leg was killing me!”
Manager Ardley, who described fifth-placed Notts County’s performance as the most complete he’s seen in his managerial career, added: “Doyley had played Gaelic football so he was up for it,” said Notts County manager Ardley.
“Ruben [Rodrigues] wanted to go in goal, a few boys put their hands up but I felt I needed the calmness from the captain. But I didn’t realise he would be as good as he was, and the nine players in front of him were excellent.
“They were all angry that he didn’t keep a clean sheet. He said after he needs to work on his goal kicks and he said he won’t have a go at the goalies anymore.”
– First published 23.52, 9 Feb
