In 50 or 60 years' time, we reckon, Barry Roche will sit his grandchildren on his knee and ask them "did I ever tell you about my first touch in English league football?", to which they'll probably reply, "yep Grandda (yawn), daily for the last 12 years".
He'll then go on to recount the events of last Monday when he came on as an injury time sub for Nottingham Forest, whose goalkeeper Dave Beasant had just been sent off after conceding a penalty to Crystal Palace. The Irish under-18 international, who was made Forest's number two goalkeeper this season, duly saved the twice-taken penalty, securing his team a 3-2 victory.
Our player of the week award, though, goes to Richard Dunne. Confession: when we saw his name appear on Saturday's teamsheet for the game against Holland we let out a strangled, fearful cry. "Alessandro Nesta he is not," we reckoned, before closing our eyes every time Patrick Kluivert took him on. Did he prove us wrong? Very definitely, even making a terrific tackle near the end to save the draw. Humble pie. Custard on face. Hats off, Richard Dunne.
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