Spinning squirrel invades pitch at women's football final

A squirrel with a penchant for running around in circles had to be removed from the pitch in a cardboard box after gatecrashing a Women's Professional Soccer championship match at the weekend.

Players from Western New York Flash and Philadelphia Independence were left stunned by the first-half incident which halted play and took the attention away from the important match at hand.


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The unusual cheerleader in question was a humble squirrel who found its way on to Sahlen's Stadium and terrorised Philadelphia's keeper Nicole Barnhart with a strange circle dance that took over the penalty area. For eight minutes the little critter had a ball as it evaded ground staff, but eventually it was trapped in a cardboard box and removed from the ground after its moment in the spotlight.

The resulting time it took to take the squirrel off the pitch was eventually added-on to first-half injury time of the tense final. After being locked at 1-1 the game ended up going to penalties, where the squirrel's dance may have worked as a good luck charm for the Western New York Flash who won the trophy 5-4 in the shootout.