When Dylan Lawlor ran from inside his own half before curling into the bottom corner in front of the Canton Stand against Leyton Orient in October, the Cardiff City defender may well have thought he would never score a better goal in his career.
But fast-forward to the final day of February, and the centre-back somehow managed to go one better.
Lawlor received possession from Perry Ng around 10 yards outside his own box and duly embarked on a mesmerising run, beating two Doncaster Rovers defenders in doing so, before again slotting into the bottom corner.
It means he has scored twice this season, with the two goals having an xG rating of 0.48 combined, typifying just how ridiculous Lawlor's ability to convert both efforts actually was.
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He is also demonstrating a footballing intelligence beyond his years.
"We were aware that Doncaster press very aggressively, man-to-man," said Brian Barry-Murphy.
"Once we were able to beat one of their players at the front end of the pitch, it was important we ran with the ball and travelled.
"Dylan took that differently. He produced a great moment for us that gave us strong impetus in the second-half."
The fact his sublime solo goal in South Yorkshire came after his floated delivery found Alex Robertson who gave Cardiff City the lead against Grant McCann's side further demonstrated Lawlor's remarkable range of abilities - and proved why he warranted the name 'Dylan Ballor' from one supporter on social media.
The three-cap Wales international had just two senior appearances to his name prior to this season.
But the manner in which he has established himself as a key first-team starter under Barry-Murphy has been nothing short of incredible.
The hope is that the calf complaint Lawlor reported at Doncaster is not too serious.
A knee injury has already limited the 20-year-old's impact since the turn of the year, but he has still started 17 league matches this season - exactly half of the Bluebirds' 34 League One fixtures so far.
He has scooped three man-of-the-match awards from statisticians WhoScored.com this season - with only top scorer Yousef Salech (four) managing more.
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He also started the FA Cup loss to Peterborough United and the meetings with Cheltenham Town and Chelsea as the Bluebirds reached the quarter-finals of the League Cup.
Due to Cardiff's style of play - namely taking total ownership of possession - under their Irish boss, Lawlor's defensive stats are hardly flashy. Far from it, in fact.
But that suits Barry-Murphy perfectly, as it means Lawlor and his team-mates are not required to make as many blocks, tackles, clearances or perform any other gritty parts of the game as often as they would have done prior to his arrival at the club.
As such, Lawlor's best contributions - as evidenced by his two stunning individual goals this season - come when he is on the ball.
According to Fotmob, Lawlor averages 63.2 accurate passes per 90, more than any other Cardiff player.
Even prior to his wonder goal against Doncaster, the Welshman, according to Opta, was averaging 24.33 carries per 90 at an average distance of 292.2 metres per 90 - both significantly more than any other player across the entire division.
That’s not to say he can't do the defensive aspects, because he certainly can.
Fotmob state he averages 6.2 clearances per 90, the third most in Cardiff's ranks, and 1.1 blocks per 90, the joint-most alongside Will Fish.
Again, thankfully from a Cardiff perspective, Lawlor isn't required to perform such actions anywhere near as often as he would have under previous regimes.
It is no wonder that the Caerphilly-born defender has been linked with a host of Premier League clubs already - even in what is his breakthrough campaign in men's football.
His data will prove immensely exciting and attractive to top-flight sides, and it will likely present Cardiff with a real dilemma in the near future when interest inevitably turns to concrete offers.
But given where Cardiff have been in recent seasons, it is a welcome problem to solve, and one that will demonstrate the club is back on the right track.
And for the time being at least, the Cardiff faithful can continue to enjoy watching one of their own bring the wow-factor on both the club and international stage during what are drastically improved times for the Bluebirds.
