We came SO CLOSE to a recreation of the iconic beach ball goal in Leeds vs Tottenham

We almost saw a moment not seen for 16 years in the Premier League, as Leeds equalised during their lunchtime affair with Tottenham.

Back in 2009, Liverpool visited the Stadium of Light and conceded a bizarre goal, as goalkeeper Pepe Reina had been wrongfooted by the football striking a beach ball on the pitch that took it into the back of the net.

🗓️ On this day 14 years ago, Darren Bent scored THAT goal which was assisted by a beach ball against Liverpool 🏖️😂
pic.twitter.com/z4qcylO09l
— SPORTbible (@sportbible) October 17, 2023

Today, as Jayden Bogle delivered a cross into the box, a white beach ball can be seen by the touchline creeping ever closer to the goal.

By the time Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Brendan Aaronson had their touches that led to Noah Okafor ready to poke the ball in from a matter of yards out, the white ball was only a matter of inches away from the goal post.

If only the wind from Storm Amy had picked up more pace, we would almost certainly have seen another goal go in via a touch from a beach ball!

Elland Road erupts as Noah Okafor pounces from close range to level it up 🔊@tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/x7gp7vcpE4
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) October 4, 2025

Mohammed Kudus' fifth goal contribution in seven games for Spurs won them the match, after Okafor had originally cancelled out Mathys Tel's opener.

Published 04 Oct 2025

Ashton has been writing about football since he was 11 years old, first starting out on training articles for Soccer Training Lab and later his own website Chelsea Blues News, where he still writes match reports and other articles.

A Chelsea fan since birth and later discovered a passion for his local non-league club Bath City, Ashton has a range of knowledge from the top flight down the tiers five and six of the football pyramid.

He joined Football Park as a freelance writer in June 2025 to combine with his Sports Journalism studies at university, and later became part of the betting predictions team here in the September.

Ashton also works on the occasional basis for Eastleigh and Winchester City FC's media teams, which includes roles such as content writer or goal cam.

His social media can be found in the bottom right corner.

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We came SO CLOSE to a recreation of the iconic beach ball goal in Leeds vs Tottenham