Reds striker Tom Bradshaw was thrilled to open his goal scoring account against Rotherham United, made more special by the fact it was in front of the Ponty End.
The striker came on as a second-half substitute for Stefan Payne and scored 14 minutes after his introduction.
Bradshaw, who had not scored in any of his first four appearances, explained his delight at getting his first Reds goal and hopes it will be the first of many.
He said: “I was over the moon to get off the mark, anyone who watches the footage back will see just how much it meant to me and the first goal is always the one that you want to get, hopefully it will be the first of many.
“I couldn’t have timed it any better, the atmosphere was brilliant and I enjoyed every moment of it.
“For Ads, Robbo, myself and Ryan to all get off the mark this season is great.
“I’ve said from minute one if I get chances I’ll score goals, it’s funny how football can go, you play three or four games and not get a chance and then play 15 minutes at the end of a Yorkshire derby and get one.
“I was happy to get that chance and put the ball in the back of the net.”
The fact that Bradshaw scored his first goal in a South Yorkshire derby made it even more special and admitted the mood around the dressing room was electric.
He feels the Reds have the capacity to trouble anyone on their day given the threats they carry throughout the side.
“When you win any local derby it’s a great atmosphere in the dressing room and to do that in the manner that we did after scoring four goals and keeping a clean sheet, it’s great for the fans.
“We’re going to have to be clinical quite a lot this season and if we haven’t scored early on, it will become about digging in, not conceding and we can always be a threat on the counter.
“We have pace in the wide areas and can score goals from all over the park as we’ve shown and as long as we can keep a clean sheet, we’ll always be a threat,” said Bradshaw.
With Sam Winnall and Marley Watkins amongst others offering competition for places, Bradshaw knows he will have to maintain his level of performance in order to remain a part of Paul Heckingbottom’s plans.
He added that having competition of such a high calibre will help him improve and he wants to apply pressure to them to earn a recall to the starting side.
“In front of the home crowd and that stand, I could not have planned it any better. It meant a lot to me, the fans have been saying to me I’d score this week and for it to happen, I’m over the moon.
“I knew coming to the club there would be a lot options for the manager to choose from and that’s something I wanted, I wanted to be pushed.
“Missing out on a starting place today is part and parcel of having such a good squad, it gives the gaffer the opportunity to rotate and give others a chance but I took it on the chin.
“Having strong competition makes you want to improve and you need to in order to get in the team and I think everyone in the squad will improve throughout the season to keep their place.
“I tried to show a good attitude to the gaffer when I came on, tried to work hard and obviously score a goal.”
Three victories from their opening five Championship games has helped Barnsley into third place in the EFL Sky Bet table and the Wales forward feels it is a good place to be heading into the international break.
“It’s better to be third than 23rd it doesn’t matter what stage of the season you’re at, I think it shows the quality we have got in our side and we aren’t getting carried away, the season is only five games old.
“It’s the start we all believed we could do and going into the international break, it’s a nice position to be in,” he added.
Watch more from Tom Bradshaw over on Barnsley Player HD.
