SLIDESHOW: Fleetwood Town 1 Barnsley 1 (Barnsley win 4-2 on pens) - Adam Hammill fires Tykes into Wembley final

Not, however, when that journey to the national stadium has begun on the Fylde coast rather than North London and yet that is exactly what Barnsley earned themselves last night in the most dramatic of fashions.

After Conor Hourihane’s opener had been cancelled out by Ashley Hunter to send the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy Northern Area final to penalties, Adam Davies proved to be the hero for the Reds.

He saved twice from Conor McLaughlin and Amari Bell, which meant when Adam Hammill drove his spot-kick in off the underside of the crossbar that the South Yorkshire club had booked an April 3 date with Oxford United. It was no more than Lee Johnson’s men deserved on the balance of last night’s tie.

Click on the window above to see a slideshow of Jonathan Gawthorpe’s pictures from Thursday night’s thrilling Northern Final

Not only did Chris Maxwell pull off two stunning saves in the home goal, but the Reds also had a very strong penalty appeal turned down during the first half when Sam Winnall was bundled to the floor.

The Reds can expect a windfall of up to £500,000 for becoming only the fifth Yorkshire club to reach the final in the Trophy’s 33-year history.

It also further justified the Oakwell board’s decision to stick with Johnson, named today as manager of the month for January, during an eight-game losing run in the autumn.

As was to be expected with so much at stake, the pace was frenetic from the start.

Play raged from one end to the other during the first half and mistakes abounded in conditions made difficult by the incessant rain and swirling wind.

Typical was the 25th minute incident that saw Alfie Mawson make a hash of an attempted clearance and the ball fall straight to Jamille Bell.

However, with just Adam Davies to beat from eight yards, the Fleetwood striker’s shot was beaten away to spare Mawson’s blushes.

Further chances came and went amid the helter skelter play, the closest the 3,705 crowd came to witnessing a goal in those opening 45 minutes being when Josh Brownhill thundered a 30-yard shot that seemed to be heading for the top corner until, at the last moment, Chris Maxwell tipped the ball to safety at full stretch.

That spectacular effort, though, was far from the biggest talking point of the first half. Instead, that ‘honour’ belonged to referee Eddie Ilderton and his fellow officials.

As Winnall’s path towards goal was blocked by an illegal tug by Nathan Pond, a penalty – and a red card for the Cod Army defender due to him being the last man – seemed the only possible outcome.

Instead, Ilderton merely waved play on to the total disbelief of both the Barnsley players and their coaching staff.

It was a big call and one that the 1,300 visiting fans spent the interval hoping would not come back to bite their team.

On the restart, the Reds did their best to make sure Ilderton’s decision did not prove costly.

Twice in the opening 10 minutes Fleetwood were opened up as, first, Marley Watkins was released by Lloyd Isgrove before picking out Winnall.

The in-form forward was in sufficient space to make the hosts pay but, instead, he made a total hash of the chance.

Hammill, after ghosting in from the left flank a couple of minutes later, did much better but, again, Fleetwood survived thanks to Maxwell’s pulling off another flying save to beat the ball away.

The save drew deserved applause from the crowd, but Barnsley would not be denied and on 68 minutes the visitors went ahead.

Fleetwood, it has to be said, were the architects of their own downfall with some quite horrendous defending.

No less than four opportunities to clear were turned down before the inevitable happened and a misplaced pass meant Johnson’s men had possession deep in home territory.

Brownhill then rolled the ball to Hourihane, who fired in just a second before being clattered to the ground. Cue pandemonium among the fans who had made the journey from Yorkshire.

But their joy was cut short nine minutes from time when substitute Ashley Hunter fired in the equaliser.

Both sides had chances to win it deep in stoppage time, Bobby Grant heading weakly from a corner at one end before Ashley Fletcher somehow missed from two yards for the Reds to send the tie to penalties and a famous Barnsley triumph.

Fleetwood Town: Maxwell; McLaughlin, Pond, Davis, Bell; Jonsson, Grant, Nirenhold, Haughton (Ball 79); Matt (Hunter 65), Henen (Forbes 65). Unused substitutes: Kiwomya, Gogic.

Barnsley: Davies; Bree, Long, Mawson, White (Scowen 90); Isgrove (Fletcher 85), Brownhill (Roberts 90), Hourihane, Hammill; Winnall, Watkins. Unused substitutes: Townsend, Williams.

Referee: E Ilderton (Tyne & Wear).