Tykes boss Dave Bassett will lead his side out in front of the Twin Towers of
Wembley for the first time in their history as only Ipswich stand in their way
of a return to the promised land of the Premiership.
The Blues regained their pride with a 2-1 victory on the night, but it was
never going to be enough after the damage was done in their 4-0 first-leg
mauling at St Andrews on Saturday.
With an Everest-like task ahead for the visitors it was no surprise to see
manager Trevor Francis deploying three strikers.
Bassett had shored up his defence with three centre-backs to try and nullify
the threat.
The first chance of the game fell to Barnsley when Darren Barnard tried to
catch on-loan goalkeeper Thomas Myhre off guard with a curling free-kick - but
the Everton man was alive to the danger.
Birmingham were probing in attack, and Bryan Hughes was not far away with a
dipping volley from the left edge of the box.
Marcelo then tested Tykes goalkeeper Kevin Miller after some neat footwork on
the left of the box, but his cross-cum-shot was saved as it fizzed across goal.
The game was warming up nicely as the Yorkshire side continued to drop deep
and defend in numbers, mindful of their four-goal advantage.
Birmingham should have opened the scoring when Hughes fed Marcelo down the
right, and the Brazilian curled in a delicious cross for Paul Furlong who stole
in ahead of defender Chris Morgan but could not divert his diving header
goalwards.
Saturday's two-goal hero Bruce Dyer was narrowly wide after a mistake by the
Blues' defence on the edge of their box - but he could not hit the target.
The deadlock was broken by the visitors, though, as Birmingham gave themselves
a glimmer of hope with a deserved goal.
Michael Johnson whipped over a cross into the Barnsley danger zone, and Gary
Rowett nodded it into the corner.
Barnsley almost hit back four minutes before the break when Neil Shipperley's
shot was blocked by the goalkeeper, and Dyer could only fire the rebound over
the bar.
Birmingham knew what they had to do after the restart if they were to
resurrect their promotion hopes - but they were always going to be prone to the
counter-attack as the gaps appeared.
The final nail in their coffin came from the feet of that man Dyer on 54
minutes.
The born-again Christian needed no divine intervention after Hignett and
Shipperley linked up down the right flank.
Shipperley took the former Middlesbrough star's pass before waiting for Dyer's
run and slipping an inch perfect ball between the defenders.
Dyer kept his composure before coolly slotting the ball past Myhre to level
the scores on the night and surely end the contest.
Birmingham pressed on, though. O'Connor fired down Miller's throat, and Dyer
almost had a second for the hosts - but his cheeky chip was just to high.
It was a sign of character and professional pride that the Blues kept plugging
away, and they were rewarded on 74 minutes when Jerry Gill fired over a cross.
Marcelo was first to the ball to bundle it over the line to make it 5-2 on
aggregate.
The goal took the edge off the Barnsley celebrations, but you got the feeling
they could step up a gear if needed and were perhaps a little watchful of
picking up a knock that would keep any one of them out of the final.
As the game crept to a glorious close for the home fans it all proved too much
for one Tyke who ran the length of the pitch in just socks and shoes before
being rugby-tackled by amused stewards.
But the final whistle was not far behind and set up what could be another
amazing chapter in Barnsley's history as the fans celebrated with the obligatory
pitch invasion.
Teams
Barnsley: Miller, Morgan, Chettle, Brown, Barnard (Curtis 78),
Eaden, Appleby, Tinkler, Hignett, Shipperley, Dyer.
Subs Not Used: Jones, Sheron, T. Bullock, M. Bullock.
Goals: Dyer 54.
Birmingham: Myhre, Rowett, Gill, Purse, Holdsworth, Hughes,
O'Connor, M. Johnson (Lazaridis 73), Furlong (A. Johnson 70), Ndlovu, Marcelo.
Subs Not Used: Bass, Marsh, Luntala.
Goals: Rowett 33, Marcelo 75.
Agg: (5-2)
Att: 19,050
Ref: Michael Dean (Wirral).
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