Victory lifts Linnets up to sixth in the Southern League standings

Southern League Central

Premier Division

King's Lynn Town 3

Rushall Olympic 0

Rory McAuley joked about his talents on the football pitch after scoring a goal the likes of Christiano Ronaldo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Wayne Rooney would have been proud of.

The giant central defender stunned everyone, including himself, by netting with a spectacular overhead kick as the Linnets extended their unbeaten league run to 12 matches.

In a moment of magic 16 minutes from time, McAuley sent an overhead kick past the motionless Adam Przybek between the Rushall Olympic posts to complete the scoring at The Walks.

Reflecting on his jaw-dropping effort, McAuley, who impressed again at both ends of the pitch, quipped: “I haven’t scored a goal quite like that. I always thought my talents were wasted at the back.

“It could have gone anywhere to be fair so I was pleased to see it hit the back of the net. It was a nice feeling and I celebrated with a Klinsmann (Jurgen Klinsmann dive).

“Today showed we can dig in a bit. It was a strong battling performance but there were also some flashes of good football, too.”

McAuley’s second goal of the campaign also drew praise from manager Ian Culverhouse.

“It was unbelievable, a great finish and I don’t think the boys will hear the end of that for a while,” said the Lynn boss.

“Rory was outstanding at both ends, really solid defensively.

“I was pleased we got a clean sheet because we have just stepped away from that a little bit and if we can build on clean sheets we won’t be far away.”

McAuley’s super strike was the icing on the cake of a gritty Lynn performance after Culverhouse had called on his players to be up for the battle.

Ryan Hawkins opened the scoring at the second attempt in the 14th minute before a Michael Clunan penalty on the stroke of half-time put Lynn 2-0 up and in control heading into the interval.

The performance of Hawkins, in particular, earned praise from Culverhouse after seeing his side deliver a more ruthless display in front of goal.

“We had a little word with him before the game and said his levels have dropped a bit in recent performances,” explained Culverhouse.

“But he was up there again today. I thought first half he looked a threat and when he’s on fire the tempo and the intensity goes through and you can see the crowd gets behind him and it raises him a touch.

“I have been back for seven games now and the first two – against Alvechurch and St Neots – he was outstanding, he was excellent and we just think his levels had dropped.

“He knows, he is not a stupid boy, he has just stepped off the pace, but he responded really, really well. He was always a threat.”