Sean Pratt brought new meaning to the term "an eye for goal" after scoring the late equaliser in Maitland's 2-1 win over Edgeworth last Friday at Cooks Square Park.
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Recovering from surgery on his right eye to halt the damage of a degenerative cornea disease, Pratt came off the bench and headed in the 89th minute leveller before Ryan Clarke hit the winner, with a fumble from goalkeeper Josh Low, in the 92nd.
Pratt had only one eye open for his header and celebrated by holding his hand over his repaired eye as he ran back to halfway.
It was a memorable return for Pratt from a painful and frightening period.
The 20-year-old real estate agent was diagnosed with keratoconus, a condition that causes the cornea to thin and bulge forward, after his sight deteriorated over about 18 months.
A week later, he had a two-hour operation, which included scraping and laser surgery, on his right eye and he is booked in to have the left eye repaired in two weeks.
He came back earlier than advised from the operation to sit on the Magpies bench for coach Mick Bolch against the Eagles.
"Lucky it was a day game because I was training the night before and Bolchy was asking if I was all right and I said 'yeah, I'm fine', but really I couldn't see anything," Pratt said.
"I wasn't really meant to be playing, but Bolchy didn't know. I had to sneak off to the changeroom just before I went on to have an anaesthetic drop, which numbs your eye.
"I was struggling with the sun even before I went on. The whole bench was in the sun so I told Bolchy I had to go stretch so I could go sit in the shade."
The former Mariners Youth striker played under Bolch at Hamilton in 2017 and followed him to Maitland midway through last season.
He has helped give the Magpies attacking depth but will miss six weeks of competition in June-July while holidaying in Europe.
He wants to push for a starting spot at Maitland before and after the break but knows he might have to bide his time in a squad featuring Joel Wood, James Thompson, Clarke and Tom Duggan.
"I'm buzzing and I want to get in there as soon as possible but I've got to hold my horses," he said.
"I can't expect the world to revolve around me with the way my eyes are. I just need to focus on getting them sorted and getting fit and getting back in the team.
"It's good competition for places and I think it's a struggle for Bolchy to pick a team each week because everyone is putting their hand up. I think we'll do really well."