Life's just a beach for goal hero Darren Bent

Oct 19 2009 by Stuart Rayner, The Journal

DARREN Bent did not see the beach ball which helped him score his eighth goal of the season, and was not sure if it should have stood, but was disappointed not to have added to his tally by more legitimate means.

As well as drawing level with the injured Fernando Torres at the top of the Premier League’s goalscoring charts, Bent claimed one of the Stadium of Light’s strangest goals.

As he pointed out, though, the three points it earned his team were well deserved.

He said: “It was the most bizarre goal I have ever scored.

“Andy Reid crossed it from the right, it fell to me, I took a shot and it hit the balloon and went into the corner.

“Someone said after the game it should have been a drop ball or something, are they the rules? You just have to smile and move on to the next game.

“As soon as the ball went into the net I just ran off to celebrate and was not aware of anything else going on.

“I had not seen the balloon beforehand, it was quite large and in the middle of their penalty area, so they should have done something about it. It had a Liverpool badge on it. It came from their fans.”

In front of a sell-out crowd, the Black Cats were comfortably the better side and would have had more goals had Bent not used their luck up so early.

He stressed: “We played really, really well. Usually when you beat somebody from the top four or five it is backs-to-the-wall stuff.

“This win will be massive for our confidence. We have shown we can mix it with the best in the last two games.”