Darren Ferguson has congratulated his record-breaking Peterborough side after youngster Harley Mills' inspirational performance led them to a surprise 2-0 win over Birmingham in the Vertu Trophy final at Wembley Stadium.
The unbeaten Blues secured promotion to the top flight of Sky Bet League One with an away win at Posh on Tuesday and then clinched the title on Saturday after Wrexham dropped points, but were stunned in London by two former Aston Villa players.
First, former Villa youth product Mills produced a superb free-kick on 15 minutes and then his pass set up Hector Kyprianou's brilliant second goal late in the first half, while ex-Villa goalkeeper Jed Steer was steadfast in keeping out Birmingham in the dying moments.
Peterborough overcame 11 minutes of injury time to become the first club to win the competition back-to-back, while Ferguson, who lifted the trophy for the fourth time with Posh, celebrated becoming the first manager to win the EFL Trophy three times.
“Yes, we made history. We knew we had to put in a really outstanding performance and I felt the players did that,” Ferguson told Sky Sports.
“Birmingham are a top team. They are one of the best teams League One has ever seen and you have to congratulate them, they won the league, but today is our day.”
“We probably played well on Tuesday because they didn't thrash us like a lot of teams have, but we played well and I think the boys believed in that.”
“We just said we have to go out there and be the best version of ourselves. And that's exactly what we were today.”
Ferguson was also pleased that 19-year-old Mills was determined enough to take responsibility for an early free-kick.
He added: “Kwame (Poku) wanted to take the ball and I was shouting, 'Let Harley take it' because he is brilliant in the free-kicks. His deliveries are always accurate and just fantastic.”
“No, it wasn't my decision. Kwame is good at many things, but not at this.”
“For this guy (Harley) to come through the academy and score at Wembley, it was a fantastic day for him.”
Birmingham were left licking their wounds 24 hours after the League One title was secured but manager Chris Davies vowed the team would rise from the Wembley defeat.
“It wasn't our best day. Obviously it was Peterborough's day, so congratulations to them first and foremost,” Davies said.
“Suffering is part of life, part of football, and you have to live through it, take it as a lesson, grow from it and learn from it.”
“We are suffering because we came to Wembley with all our fans and lost and of course it will hurt but we have to learn from it and we will.”
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
