HAMMILL HEART IN MOUTH FOR KEY PENALTY
BARNSLEY hero Adam Hammill didn’t care how he got his side to Wembley – even if it meant conning the ref!
The scouse midfielder was the toast of Oakwell after netting the decisive penalty in the Tykes’ 4-2 shoot-out victory over Fleetwood in the JPT semi-finals.
But it was a close run thing, with Hammill’s spot-kick hitting bar and goal-line before eventually bouncing past a devastated Chris Maxwell.
“My heart was in my mouth when it hit the bar,” said the 28-year-old, who returned to Barnsley for a second spell in November.
“It was like watching in slow motion. I saw the ball bounce once, bounce twice. And I thought ‘If I just run away celebrating, the ref will think it’s in’, so that’s what I did! Thankfully, it went in, anyway. It must have been written in the stars. Either that or our half of the crowd blew it in!”
Barnsley face Oxford United in the final at Wembley on April 3 and Hammill, who netted 12 goals in 64 games for the Tykes before unhappy spells at Wolves and Huddersfield, has promised to reward fans who welcomed him back with a stellar performance.
“They have always held me in high regard and vice versa,” he said.“There’s nobody I’ve taken to quite like Barnsley fans.
“Coming back here, they got behind me straight away and I appreciate it massively.
“I’ve never played at Wembley and it’s going to be a magic day.
“Everyone has to make sure we go there and enjoy it. You might only get one opportunity to play at Wembley, so you have to do yourself justice as well.
“I want to make my family and these great fans proud. Win or lose, I’ll be leaving everything on the pitch.”
Barnsley’s joy at reaching Wembley on Thursday night has since been tempered with the loss of manager Lee Johnson.
Just hours after masterminding victory over Fleetwood, Johnson was given permission to meet Championship strugglers Bristol City, managerless since the sacking of Steve Cotterill last month.
He has now signed a threeand-a-half year deal with the Robins.
Johnson, 34, spent six years as a player at Ashton Gate under father Gary, winning promotion to the Championship and reaching the play-off final in 2008.