Tarrawanna goalkeeper Christian Pretto was left scratching his head in strong winds at PCYC on Saturday.

The experienced custodian stepped up to take a regulation goal kick midway through the Blueys clash with Wollongong Olympic, only to watch his thumping right foot clearance drift back towards his goal mouth.

Forced to act quickly, Pretto cleared the ball himself with a fist but gave away an indirect free-kick for the impulsive action.

"It was a strange one," Pretto said of the incident.

"The wind was coming straight in from the west. I have played in some pretty bad conditions with wind and rain but that wind on the weekend was by far the strongest I have ever played in."

Unbeknown to the keeper, had he let the ball drift back into his own net it would have meant a corner kick and not a goal to Olympic.

"It is one of those rules that you would never think to know about, because you'd think it was never going to happen," Pretto said.

"It's probably the strangest thing that has happened to me on the field."

Fortunately for the Blueys, they secured a vital 1-0 win over Olympic to stay the race for the top five.