Stefan Connolly's superbly taken own point delighted the masses yesterday and has naturally inspired us to look at those rare and strange moments that enthral sports fans...
1. The Own Point
Wow! An 'own point' from Stefan Connolly pic.twitter.com/YYZni7jvEC
— We Are Cavan (@Wearecavan) September 13, 2015
2. A hole in one on a par 4
3. A prop scoring a drop goal
It has been tried before. Adam Jones attempted one against Munster in a tight Heineken Cup game recently but it came up short.
Aussie prop Matt Dunning shocked the world and his teammates when he scored a drop goal in a Super Rugby match for the Waratahs in 2003.
Cue consternation in the Waratahs' ranks. You see they needed to score four tries in the game and time was running out. With a penalty coming, Dunning tried a drop goal, cocksure in the knowledge he would miss and we would come back for the penalty.
However, Dunning, it transpires, is hopeless at missing drop goals and proceeded to send the ball sailing between the posts.
4. A player breaking the crossbar during a game
A very rare event indeed. The 1992 Connacht Final was held up for seven minutes after Roscommon corner back Enon Gavin snapped the crossbar in half in an effort to prevent a point.
Here's how it went down. Anthony Finnerty took a shot for goal, it deflected off goalkeeper Gay Sheerin and looped up in the air, just about clearing the crossbar for a point.
Gavin, in a despairing bid to prevent the score hared back towards his goal, leaping up in vain. After failing, he swung off the crossbar, snapping it in the middle.
After a similar incident at the same venue in 1962, officials were ready and after a brief delay the crossbar was repaired.
5. A penalty shoot-out in rugby
A historic moment in the 2009 Heineken Cup semi-final between Cardiff and Leicester. The respective sets of kickers proved remarkably adept at kicking the ball over the bar from straight in front of the posts.
Martin Williams eventually made a hames of his kick in sudden death and Leicester took victory.
6. Scoring the wrong end zone
Roy Riegels is now named on Wikipedia as Roy 'wrong way' Riegles after his wrong way run in the 1929 Rose Bowl. It cost University of California the national championship and Riegels had to be talked out of retirement.
Jim Marshall repeated the feat when playing for the Minnesota Vikings in 1964. He tossed the ball out of bounds thinking he had scored a touchdown, resulting in a safety for the 49ers.
7. A slam dunk that breaks the backboard
If only Enon Gavin was a basketball player, this would happen more often.
8. Scoring after the ball crosses the endline
The linesman here is a man who adheres stringently to the letter of the law, and did not allow admiration for what Thiago Silva had done here to cloud his judgement.
9. A player intercepting a goalkeeper mid-kick out
George Best decided he was going to take advantage of Gordon Banks' propensity to toss the ball way up in the air before booting it out. The referee came to his aid.
10. A shot going through a hole in the net and not being given by the referee
Back in 1998, Shamrock Rovers' Derek Treacy was adamant his shot had beaten Steve Williams and gone through a hole in the net. Referee Damien Hancock saw nothing and the game finished 0-0.
Here's a similar incident from the lower leagues.
11. A deliberate own goal
The astonishing events of the 1994 Caribbean Cup are burned into all sporting trivia lovers' memories. Barbados needed to beat Grenada by two clear goals otherwise they would be eliminated and their opponents would go through.
Barbados were leading 2-0 until Grenada equalised with seven minutes left. However, in their wisdom, the organisers had decreed that extra-time golden goals would count for double, meaning that Barbados would have thirty minutes extra to get the necessary goal.
Ingeniously, they decided to score an own goal. At 2-2, the game would go to extra-time and thus they would have extra-time to get the winner.
The Grenada boys responded by trying to score an own goal of their own. The Barbados lads naturally fought like tigers to prevent them doing so. Barbados succeeded and four minutes into extra-time they grabbed the golden goal and went through after winning 4-2.
