JOSH DOES IT JUST LIKE DAD

Windass junior seals Owls play-off win... same as Hull hero Dean

JOSH WINDASS turned Wembley into the land of the rising son with the last-gasp winner which restored Sheffield Wednesday to the Championship.

Fifteen years after his old man, Dean, volleyed the play-off final winner that took Hull into the Premier League, with the hourglass down to the last grains of sand, Windass met Lee Gregory’s cross with a brilliant diving header at the death.

It was desperately cruel on 10-man Barnsley, who will forever curse Adam Phillips’ red card two minutes after they were robbed of a clear penalty by VAR.

Windass said: “That was probably the worst standard of game you will ever watch – the level from both teams was shocking. There was no real quality on show and luckily we got the winning goal.

“I wasn’t thinking about my dad scoring – we worked all week with me playing off the front and trying to get to the edge of the box for cutbacks and luckily, in the last minute, it came off.”

Asked what his father would say to him later, he laughed: “I don’t know – he’s probably five Jagerbombs deep now, so probably not much!”

Windass senior, now 54, gushed: “I told him before the game he’d get the winner. I can’t believe he actually headed it. Wow!

“I’m the proudest man in the world. I can’t believe it. He loves his football and has sacrificed his life for it since he was two.”

If Wednesday’s performance was laboured, and light years from the semi-final miracle against Peterborough, their return to English football’s upper slopes is overdue.

They at least summoned the staying power to prevent a third consecutive play-off final being settled by penalties, which had never happened before.

Owls boss Darren Moore said: “I’m pleased for Josh. He missed part of the season through injury and he threw everything at that header to get the right contact.”

After an opening half of artless scuffling, the game erupted with two huge controversies in as many minutes after the break.

Wednesday striker Gregory was fortunate to escape conceding a penalty after his careless swipe caught Liam Kitching’s shin and none of the ball. VAR Tony Harrington looked at it and saw nothing wrong.

But when Gregory was caught by Tykes midfielder Adam Phillips referee Tim Robinson brandished a red card and Harrington saw no reason to intervene.

Phillips challenge was reckless and unnecessary, so Barnsley can not complain. But in a major final, Harrington’s failure to send Robinson to consult his pitchside monitor and review the incident was unacceptable.

Barnsley manager Michael Duff said: “I’ve had enough text messages on my phone already, from people I trust, to know we were on the wrong end of some key decisions.

“It’s not all about refereeing – we have to give credit to Sheffield Wednesday.”