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Johnstone's Paint Trophy Final: Road to Wembley

1 April 2016

Barnsley and Oxford United meet in Sunday's Johnstone's Paint Trophy Final, looking to etch their name on the Trophy for the first time. Here, we look back at how the teams booked their Wembley date.

The two teams have overcome plenty of obstacles to take their place under the arch this weekend. The competition lifted Barnsley out of a rut in the league, and has since seen them march towards the opposite end of Sky Bet League 1. As for Oxford, they’ve been in fine form all season, but had to upset the odds more than once to reach this year's showpiece.

Barnsley

The Tykes, who were managed by Lee Johnson throughout the tournament prior to his move to Bristol City, overcame Scunthorpe United in the first round before defeating Bradford City 2-1 at Valley Parade in Round 2.

In the Quarter-Finals, the Yorkshire club came from behind to beat York City 2-1 at Oakwell and at the next stage, with the scores level at 2-2 after 90 minutes against Wigan Athletic, it took a penalty shoot-out to see Barnsley advance to the Area Final.

Their opponents were Fleetwood Town and, after 180 minutes of football over two legs, there was nothing to separate the teams with the aggregate score finishing 2-2. 

Therefore, Barnsley had to take part in their second penalty shoot-out of the tournament, with Adam Hammill converting the decisive spot-kick to book their place in the Final for the first time.

Oxford

As for Oxford, they received a bye into Round 2, where they kickstarted their campaign with an impressive 2-0 win over local rivals Swindon Town, of League 1. Next came Dagenham & Redbridge, who they saw off by the same scoreline in the Area Quarter-Finals.

Yeovil Town provided the opposition in the next round at the Kassam Stadium but the U's proved too strong, winning the match 3-2 with Jordan Evans among the goals on his full debut. 

This set up an Area Final against in-form Millwall, where Michael Appleton's defied the odds to reach Wembley. They stunned the Lions by winning 2-0 at the Den, courtesy of a Kemar Roofe double, before completing the job on home soil.

Oxford lost the reverse fixture 1-0, but their first-leg advantage proved sufficient to overcome further higher-league opposition and reach their first ever Johnstone's Paint Trophy Final. 

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