An ecstatic Paul Heckingbottom gave his thoughts to the press after seeing his Barnsley side lift the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy at Wembley.
Three second half goals saw the Reds come back from 1-0 down to win 3-2 and lift the silverware in front of 25,000 Reds fans.
“I’m buzzing.” Said Heckingbottom. “I’ve told the players they have got to enjoy this and make the most of it. That’s what you play for and today is a little bit special.
“We’ll be celebrating tonight. It’s not just the players, it’s the fans, the staff, the owner, the directors, everyone is together and that doesn’t happen often so we’ll have a good night tonight.”
After being 1-0 down at half time Heckingbottom was asked what he said to his players.
He said, “This is the first time that the lads needed a kick up the backside, they did need it and it wasn’t anything tactical, it was just a mind-set they had to change. We had to flick that switch, they had to play at a tempo with and without the ball and they did that.
“The pleasing thing second half is that we played better. We passed the ball quicker and that’s how we want to play. I thought that we held out really well and if anyone was going to score again it was going to be us.”
The Reds have now secured one win at Wembley this season and Heckingbottom wants to get back there through the play-offs.
He continued, “We always got asked if Wembley would be a distraction. We had a little plan in place to make sure it wasn’t and it hasn’t been. Again, we’ll have a think about how we approach the next seven massive games in the league.
“We’ve achieved something. It’s been a strange season after the run of defeats then turning a corner. To get in the position we’re in now just outside the play-offs and win the final today, if we had not won something it would have been a disappointment. It’s a bit of a free one now… let’s go for the play-offs!
“We’ve been taking over two points a game which is championship form. We know we’ve been playing well, whether that be 3-0 or grinding out a 1-0.
“I’m just going to enjoy tonight, I enjoy what I do, even more so than I thought I would, I love it to bits.”
