Speaking after his heroics in our 1-0 victory over Coventry City, Brad Collins dedicated the win to our supporters, who were back inside Oakwell in full force after 17 long months away.
The 24-year-old ‘keeper kept out Viktor Gyökeres’ injury time penalty to ensure we took all three points and says it was even sweeter with the fans there to watch.
“It’s a fantastic moment for me, the team and especially the fans,” insisted Collins. “It’s been a long time since they’ve been in the stadium and I’m just happy that penalty save got us the win in the end and we got over the line, because we want it for the fans.
“It was an unbelievable feeling. If this was behind closed doors, you have a good feeling but, with the fans back now, it’s different. I’ll remember this day for the rest of my life now and I think it’s a special moment.
“You don’t get many penalty saves in the 92nd minute when you’re 1-0 up, so I’m delighted.”
It’s a first clean sheet in the Sky Bet Championship this season for Barnsley, who perhaps rode their luck at times during a frantic encounter but defended with real determination in a backs-to-the-wall last 10 minutes.
More importantly, though, it’s a priceless victory that helps us to build on our impressive point in South Wales last weekend.
“Cardiff is a very tough place to go, especially on the first day of the season with their fans back, so it was a terrific point there and, obviously, we’ve managed to get the win here and the clean sheet,” continued Collins.
“If you defend like that, you’ve always got a chance of winning a football match. Credit to the boys, they were fantastic and we’ll take it.
“We’ll look to build on this now and keep pushing and keep progressing.”
