Teenagers all over the footballing world are taking the game by storm at present.
There’s the inimitable Lamine Yamal and the schoolboy Pau Cubarsi at Barcelona. Arsenal have Ethan Nwaneri chapping on their first-team door and Ethan Mbappe is attempting to follow in the footsteps of his famous brother at PSG.
At Tannadice on Saturday, it wasn’t so much a case of our own 17-year-old taking the game by storm, but rather putting the cherry on top of the cake.
Step forward Owen Stirton. A local lad, a real workhorse up front with no small amount of ability and, most important of all, at least to me, a massive Dundee United fan.
Owen had made seven first-team appearances, all from the bench, before Saturday. His eighth seemed no more than an exercise in running down the clock. United were already two goals up and we had entered the 91st minute of the game.
Less than a minute later however, and with only his second touch in a top-flight league match, Owen gave himself the best moment of his relatively short lifetime.
A lovely cross into the box ended up on the head of young Stirton and the joy on his face as he realised he had scored for his boyhood team will live long in the memories of all United fans who witnessed it. In that moment, Owen was living out all of our dreams.
No one can say with any certainty what sort of career Stirton will go on to have, but the lad has all the tools needed and an excellent attitude as he strives to make a real name for himself.
If that doesn’t quite materialise, no one will ever be able to take away the feeling that he had on Saturday when he placed that cherry on top of the United cake.
A real-life, tangerine tinted, Roy of the Rovers moment.
Paul McNicoll can be found at The Dode Fox Podcast.
