PATRICK Kelly was thrilled to get his first Barnsley goal at Bradford City on Saturday but accepts that was never going to make headlines.

The Reds’ other strike was a sensational 70-yarder from Reyes Cleary before Kelly came off the bench to net a second equaliser in the 2-2 draw.

Kelly told the Chronicle: “It’s hard to beat that. It is definitely the best goal I’ve ever seen in my life.

“We were backs against the wall at the time and struggling in the game.

“That got us back into it.

“I was delighted with my goal. I would have been happier with three points but Bradford is a hard place to go. It might be a good point at the end of the season.”

Barnsley followed up the draw at Valley Parade with a 5-2 EFL Trophy win against Manchester United under 21s on Tuesday, ending a six-game winless run in all competitions.

Kelly, who started the cup tie along with others who have not been starting regularly, said: “It was important we won. The manager emphasised we needed to win a game of football to get confidence back. We scored five goals as well which was good.

“The scoreline probably doesn’t reflect how comfortable we were in the game.

“We struggled in the first half and maybe got our press wrong. We were disjointed. Some people were pressing and others weren’t. We were off it.

“The manager (Conor Hourihane) had a bit of a go at us at half-time.

“We knew we needed to be better but we stepped it up in the second half and were more comfortable.

“It’s a group of lads trying to prove themselves to get into the team and we didn’t look like that in the first half.

“We went from a big derby in a big atmosphere on Saturday to a smaller crowd when it’s more flat. You have to find the drive within yourself and we did that in the second half.”

Kelly has been playing more as an attacking midfielder recently, having previously been used in a holding role.

“I spoke to Conor last week about him seeing me playing higher, more as a number ten. It worked well at Bradford and I liked it.

“I played there for Doncaster (last season) and internationally. It’s the more attacking role in midfield. I am happy wherever as long as I get on the pitch.”

Kelly is yet to make his first start in the league at Oakwell, where Barnsley host near neighbours Rotherham on Saturday. He said: “It’s a huge game.

“We want to carry momentum into Saturday and hopefully Oakwell is bouncing, we get a good three points and kick on our league campaign.”