TAKING aim at a reporter has likely crossed the minds of many footballers – but few get the chance to do so as literally as Pars ace Joe Cardle.

The winger and some of his teammates have never been shy in giving yours truly a bit of banter over important matters like their weekly match ratings but he was able to get his own back by using me for a spot of shooting practice Irn-Bru style.

Taking inspiration from the marksmanship of William Tell – who shot an apple off the top of his son’s head 700 years ago this month – ahead of Saturday’s Irn-Bru Cup quarter-final, Cardle was challenged to see if he had the precision to fire a can of Scotland’s other national drink off my head using what was, thankfully, just a foam football.

While a few of his efforts ended off target Joe, egged on by some of his team-mates and coach John Potter, took great delight in taking up the challenge which yielded some interesting results - and made sure I was the target of hilarity for the Pars squad.

Afterwards, having forgiven him for thumping numerous attempts off my head, Cardle laughed: “There was a couple; I’m blaming the spongy balls to be fair and I’m blaming you!

"It’s all a bit of banter, it was a one-off but I’m not sure I’ll be doing that one again!”