ED McGinty reflected on a roller coaster debut as his penalty save helped Oxford United reach the second round of the Carabao Cup.
The goalkeeper denied Swansea City winger Matty Sorinola in the shoot-out after the U’s fought back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2.
Cameron Brannagan, whose deflected 93rd-minute free-kick took the tie to spot-kicks, then scored the winning penalty as United claimed a 5-3 victory from 12 yards to book their place in tonight’s draw.
It was a very different start to the night for McGinty, who handled outside the box just seven minutes into his U's career, with Swansea midfielder Jay Fulton firing home the resulting free-kick.
And the summer signing from League of Ireland side Sligo Rovers admitted he was briefly rocked by the mistake.
The 23-year-old said: “I was trying to be too perfect.
“I should have put my foot through it and it was a disaster.
“My head was gone and the second goal was slack as well, but you just have to keep going."
McGinty was also the shoot-out hero for Sligo in their Europa Conference League first-round win over Bala Town last month - his final game before joining United.
He added: “When he said it’s going straight to penalties I thought I was going to save one.
“The gaffer said it’s a chance to redeem myself and I was knew I was going to.
"The last game I had with Sligo went to a penalty shoot-out, so that gave me a bit of confidence as well."
Fulton’s eighth-minute free-kick put the Sky Bet Championship side ahead and Liam Cullen doubled the lead midway through the half.
Swansea were in complete control, but United improved after the break and Alex Gorrin charged down Steven Benda’s clearance into the net with 18 minutes left.
Brannagan’s last-gasp free-kick sent the game to spot-kicks, leaving McGinty struggling to get his head around a surreal debut.
He said: “It was a very strange debut, probably the maddest game of football I’ve played.
“It was probably the worst half of football I’ve played in my life, so to come out and save a penalty was very strange.”
U’s head coach Karl Robinson added: “You’ve got to make sure that when you make mistakes you grow from that and don’t crumble.
“I thought in the second half he looked quite secure.
“He’s a really confident young man, but he’s got to grow from those mistakes. He’s big enough and daft enough.”
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