Josh Brownhill may only be 17, but that didn’t stop him from trying an audacious trick on footballing legend Edgar Davids.
During the first half of North End’s FA Cup win over Barnet on Saturday, Brownhill came face-to-face with the 74 times capped for the Netherlands, one time Champions League winner, three times Serie A winner and three times Eredivise winner, only for the youngster to flick the ball with his right leg behind his body to skip away from the footballing icon.
And despite the trick not quite coming off - Davids was left with no option but to foul the Lilywhites’ No.30, the PNE Academy product still earned rave reviews for his daring piece of skill.
Speaking of the move, Brownhill said: “I didn’t really have much on so I thought I’d try and do something, but as I did it he fouled me!
“I know a lot about Edgar Davids and how much of a big player he is, where he has been and what he has done, which makes it a lot better that I done a trick on him.
“I try to do a few tricks a lot in training, I don’t really get a chance to do it much in games but I just thought I’d give it a go and it would have come off if I hadn’t been fouled.”
Playing against one of the greatest modern day footballers in European history, Brownhill admits that it was a strange feeling at first to see Davids grace Deepdale, but he was delighted to have been given the opportunity and to help earn a place in the second round.
“It was good to play on the same pitch as Davids,” added Josh.
“It was a bit of a weird feeling because of how big a player he is and the clubs that he has played at and then I am playing against him, but it felt good and I am just glad that we got the win.
“I thought we played very well, but obviously the sending’s off changed the game a bit, but we played well from start to finish and it’s good to be in the next round.”