By David Polkinghorne
A freak goal got Gungahlin United midfielder Shane Murray more than 151,000 hits on YouTube, but he's hoping to be part of something even bigger against Sydney Olympic in the FFA Cup on Tuesday night.
His coach Claudio Canosa said a strong Gungahlin showing could lay the foundation for Canberra getting a team in the A-League.
Gungahlin United players Dustin Wells, Shane Murray and coach Claudio Canosa ahead of their match against Sydney Sydney Olympic in the FFA Cup. Credit: Rohan Thomson
United are $9 underdogs against Olympic ($1.25), but Murray said it's "11 v 11" and anyone can win a knockout cup game.
He grew up in Dublin and he spent four years with Sheffield United before returning home to Ireland.
Gungahlin United's Shane Murray at Gungahlin Oval ahead of their match against Sydney Olympic in the FFA Cup. Credit: Rohan Thomson
It's where he scored a freak goal from a corner on a "typical Irish day" that become a YouTube hit.
Some of the 23-year-old's cousins moved to Canberra and then an online chat sparked his interest in following them to the nation's capital.
Murray had an eye-opening start to his time in the Canberra Premier League, getting a four-week suspension in a pre-season friendly after he was on the receiving end of a heavy tackle.
"Handbags" were drawn and supporters jumped the fence, but Murray was hit the hardest.
His goal was also hit hard on YouTube.
"It was a typical Irish day, lashing rain and the wind, I tried to just hang it in the wind, but the minute I hit I said to the linesman, 'This is going in' and the linesman looked at me," Murray said.
"It was good the way it blew up, got a lot of views, it was a good laugh.
"It was just a corner [not a shot], but I tried to put it on the line, I didn't say I was trying to hit the top corner - it was half and half."
Canosa played more than 200 games in the National Soccer League, the pre-cursor to the A-League, and he wanted the FFA Cup to be springboard for Canberra to return to the top flight of Australian soccer.
He played for West Adelaide and the Morwell Falcons in the NSL, and played against the Canberra Cosmos.
Canosa said while it was Gungahlin United that was playing against Olympic, they were representing Canberra and he wanted the ACT to get behind his team
He also wanted Canberra's renowned winter to come to the party and give the Sydneysiders a chilly reception.
"We are Gungahlin United, but we want to do really well for Canberra. There's a little bit of Canberra versus Sydney," Canosa said.
"We hope that tomorrow is -5 degree and they feel the cold.
"We hope that there's enough quality and potential here [in the ACT] to have a team in the A-League and this game can help."
Olympic have former Canberra FC midfielder Ryan Keir in their squad.
FFA CUP ROUND OF 32
Tuesday: Gungahlin United v Sydney Olympic at Gungahlin Enclosed, 7.30pm. Tickets available from trybooking.com.
Gungahlin United squad: 1.Jason Denham (gk), 2.Alex Moscaritolo, 3.Dustin Wells, 4.Jack Green,5.Nathan Tidmarsh, 6.Stephen Dominici, 7.Regan Walsh, 8.Shane Murray, 9.Daniel Barac, 10.Josh Gaspari, 11.Jeremy Habtemariam, 12.Danny Krajacic, 14.Liam Walsh, 15.Adam de Franceschi,17.Josh Parisi, 18.Tony Madafari, 20.Hassan Kamara, 21.Costandi Fallas (gk), 22.Michael John, 24.Josh Lagudah (gk), 55.Tal Evans.
Sydney Olympic squad: 1.Paul Henderson (gk), 2.Brayden Sorge, 3.Troy Danaskos, 4.Brendan Hooper, 5.Yianni Spyrakis, 6.Ryan Keir, 7.William Angel, 8.Jason Madonis, 9.Dimitri Hatzimouratis, 10.Harris Gaitatzis, 11.Scott Balderson, 12.Daniel Sadaka (gk), 14.Peter Markovic, 15.Leigh Egger, 16.Howard Fondyke, 17.James Andrew, 18.Taiga Soeda, 19.Go Shirai, 21.John Dimitrakas (gk), 22.Michael Gaitatzis, 26.Jack Green, 27.Oliver Green, 33.Nikolas Tsattalios, 44.Cohan Morris, 60.Tolgay Ozbey.