Josh Griffiths stated he was ‘buzzing’ after making the match-winning save to help Bristol Rovers best Barnsley on penalties to progress to the third round of the Emirates FA Cup.
The goalkeeper earned his team a place in Monday’s draw after keeping a clean sheet across 120 minutes of action before proving to be decisive in the penalty shootout, pushing away Josh Earl’s spot-kick down to his left.
It came after Rovers netted all four of their penalties, with Chris Martin, Scott Sinclair, Ruel Sotiriou and Shaq Forde all scoring under pressure.
Griffiths was pleased to get through to the next round and insisted that everyone’s thoughts are with manager Matt Taylor, who is taking a leave of absence due to an ongoing family emergency.
“It’s nice to go through and be in the draw on Monday,” he said. “I’m glad we could win, as it has been a difficult week. Our thoughts are with the manager and his family, so I’m glad we could put on a show for him and come away with a win to get through to the next round.”
Griffiths’ penalty heroics will capture the headlines, but the goalkeeper was kept busy during the match and faced nine shots on target, with the Tykes having 30 attempts in total.
He made several mammoth saves to deny Stephen Humphrys, Kelechi Nwakali, Fabio Jalo and Josh Earl. The goalkeeper was pleased to keep his seventh clean sheet of the season and praised the defence ahead of him.
“I’m really proud to keep a clean sheet,” said the shot-stopper. “I thought the lads in front of me were outstanding, and they defended the box really well.
"Barnsley are a direct team, and David Horseman said they would be like that. We prepared well for it, so credit to the coaching staff as well. But I think an all-round solid performance is something that the fans were proud of.”
Rovers retained their defensive strength throughout the match, with their efforts well worth it after getting through on penalties. The Gas were shooting towards their fans in the away end and gained an immediate advantage when Adam Phillips thumped the post with his spot-kick.
Griffiths stated he enjoys penalties and suggested he did not immediately know his save against Earl put his side through.
“I think I thrive in those situations,” said the goalkeeper. “It’s not a win-win, but you know if you can save one, it gives the chance and with them missing the first one, it was advantage to us straight away. So, I knew probably one more save, and we would win it.
“The lads took their pens really well, so credit to them.
"It was strange as I didn’t know I saved the winning one, to be honest. Then I saw the lads running towards me and obviously, I was buzzing."
“Quite a bit of practise and work goes into it. Scott Brown and I went through it on Thursday. So, we did our research and a bit of credit to him as well. We got most of them right, so I was happy with that.”
All the successful teams from the second round will be joined in the draw by the 44 Premier League and Championship teams that enter the competition at the third-round stage. Griffiths is hoping for a big day out.
“A Premier League team away would be nice,” he said. “There’s none in particular that stands out, but the fans could have a big away day, which would be nice.”
