The ball breaks loose 30 yards from goal. Josh Beilby drifts in, tracking its path as it bounces toward him. Lethbridge Football Club are 2-0 down to Calgary Rangers FC with 76 minutes on the clock. The game is slipping away.
Josh sees the ball falling perfectly into his path. There's no time for calculation, just instinct and commitment.
He strikes it. Full power. Right technique. The ball sails toward goal, curving through the air. By the time anyone reacts, it's nestling in the top corner.
Goal. 2-1. Game on.
His teammates sprint to him. The celebration is immediate, urgent. Lethbridge are back in it with time still on the clock. What looked like a lost match in Calgary Minor Soccer Association Tier 1 suddenly has life.
The match would end 2-2. Josh's goal from 30 yards kept Lethbridge in the fight and earned them a point they didn't look like getting.
When technique meets desperation
"We're 2-0 down with not long to go. Let's just power through with the right technique," Josh says.
That calculation happens in maybe half a second. Go for it or play it safe. Strike from distance or work it closer. Power or placement.
Josh chose power with the right technique. The moment required commitment without hesitation. Get it wrong, and you've wasted possession when your team needs a goal. Get it right, and you've given them a chance.
Josh got it right.
It’s one of those strikes where you can track the entire flight, everyone watching, waiting to see if it stays under the bar. It did.
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Documented for keeps
Josh didn't know the goal was captured on video until after the match. Then he saw it, and suddenly something he'd remember anyway became something he could prove.
"It was an amazing feeling to see that a moment like that was captured on video and that I can watch that over and over again," Josh says. "Without that video, I wouldn't be in this position I am now."
Position meaning this: his goal submitted for People's Puskas, competing against spectacular strikes from around the world. The 76th-minute effort that pulled his team back into the match, now part of a global showcase.
Josh has been nominated for this year's People's Puskas, which spotlights the best goals scored away from the biggest arenas.
"What an achievement I have to say," Josh says. "Being nominated for this award was something I never thought I would achieve, but here I am writing back to you in this email about my story on how I managed to get to this stage."
The nomination matters beyond the recognition. It validates the moment. Confirms that what happened in that Calgary Minor Soccer Association match wasn't just a nice goal that his teammates remember, but something worth celebrating alongside the best grassroots strikes globally.
"I'm also just really glad that my story can be shared about this and people can view the true highlights of football," Josh says.
The replay habit
Josh watches the goal back regularly.
"I would say at least 2-3 times a week I find myself watching that goal back and always end up with a slight smile on my face," he says. "I am glad moments like these can happen and are possible."
That frequency reveals something. The goal hasn't gotten old. Each viewing brings the same satisfaction, the same reminder of what happened when everything aligned.
Some goals you watch once and file away. Others you return to because they represent something. Josh returns to his goal from Lethbridge because it captures a moment when instinct and technique combined to pull his team back into a match they were losing.
Can you beat that?
