FT: Huddersfield Town 2-2 Barnsley - both Yorkshire sides safe

Barnsley manager David Flitcroft said he would celebrate the last-day draw at Huddersfield that secured his side npower Championship survival by visiting his dad’s grave in Bolton.
Huddersfield manager Mark Robins.Huddersfield manager Mark Robins.
Huddersfield manager Mark Robins.

James Vaughan’s 82nd-minute equaliser appeared to have consigned Barnsley to League One, but Crystal Palace’s 89th-minute winner against relegation rivals Peterborough meant both Yorkshire sides stayed up.

Huddersfield twice hit back from behind to clinch a 2-2 draw and the point they needed to guarantee Championship football next season.

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Jermaine Beckford cancelled out Chris O’Grady’s first-half opener and Vaughan silenced the visiting hordes after substitute Jason Scotland had headed Barnsley into a 75th-minute lead.

Once news of Palace’s late winner had filtered through, it triggered bizarre scenes on the pitch, where both sets of players swapped handshakes and appeared to agree to play out the final few minutes without further incident to ensure both sides avoided the drop.

When asked how he would celebrate, Flitcroft said: “I’m not sure. I don’t know where I’m at. I’ll go up to my dad’s grave tonight and probably spend an hour up there with dad.

“After the greatest achievements I’ve done in my life, I’ve spent them at a grave in Bolton.

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“There’s a lot of emotions. I just wish dad could have been here to witness that.”

Barnsley were clear favourites for relegation when Flitcroft was named as a surprise replacement for the sacked Keith Hill in January, but an impressive run of form over the second half of the season has rescued the club.

“Mission Impossible achieved,” Flitcroft said.

“We’ve not been lucky in the last minute, we designed that since day one when we took over.

“We’ve beaten some incredible football teams and Mission Impossible can only be achieved by special people.

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“Forget the football. Forget the quality, the disparity in this league, what we’ve achieved there is done by a group of special people and a special management team I got in from day one.

“I didn’t trust anyone to step up with me so I got Micky Mellon and Martin Scott and they’ve driven me and we’ve driven this team, which has achieved something quite remarkable.”

Huddersfield manager Mark Robins admitted the 90 minutes had been the toughest of his managerial career and that his short time at the club had been the most testing.

“It was the hardest 90 minutes that I’ve ever had to endure without a doubt,” said former Barnsley boss Robins, who replaced predecessor Simon Grayson in February.

“It was always going to be difficult.

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“By no means were we at our best. We were a million miles from our best, but we got what we needed at the end of it.

“The game doesn’t really matter. It was the outcome that counted. When you’ve got a cup final, you’ve just got to get wehat you need.

“I’m sure throughout that game we were fluctuating between relegation and survival and we’ve just managed to get our 58th point, which is an absolutely unbelievable total to be talking about anywhere near relegation.

“All the team around us have got an enormous part to play in that and deserve credit for making it as difficult as it was.

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“That’s got to be the hardest 15 games I’ve ever taken charge of because of the timing of it.

“It’s been the most demanding two months of my managerial career.

“I’m delighted to still be manager of a Championship club because it would have been a disaster if we went down.”