Darren Ferguson toasted his record-breaking Peterborough team after an inspired display by teenager Harley Mills helped them register a shock 2-0 victory over Birmingham in the Vertu Trophy final at Wembley.
The all-conquering Blues had sealed promotion from Sky Bet League One with an away win at Posh on Tuesday before they clinched the title on Saturday – after Wrexham dropped points – but they were stunned by two former Aston Villa players in London.
Firstly, ex-Villa trainee Mills struck a wonderful free-kick in the 15th minute before his cross led to a superb second from Hector Kyprianou on the stroke of half-time, and one-time Villa goalkeeper Jed Steer then stood strong amid a Birmingham onslaught during the final exchanges.
Peterborough navigated 11 minutes of stoppage-time to become the first club to win this tournament back-to-back and Ferguson – who lifted silverware for a fourth time at Posh – celebrated being the first manager to win the English Football League Trophy on three occasions.
“Yeah, we’ve made a bit of history. We knew we had to give a really top performance and I felt the players did that,” Ferguson told Sky Sports.
“Birmingham are a top team. They are one of the best teams that League One has seen and you have to congratulate them, they’ve won the league but today was our day.
“Maybe Tuesday was a good game for us because they didn’t blow us, which they’ve done to many teams but we were well in the game and I think the lads took belief from that.
“We just said we’ve got to turn up and be the best version of us. Today we were.”
Ferguson was also relieved 19-year-old Mills was stubborn enough to take the early free-kick.
He added: “Kwame (Poku) wanted to take it and I was screaming, ‘let Harley take it’, because he’s fantastic at free-kicks. His deliveries are on the money all the time and fantastic.
“No, it wasn’t my decision. Kwame is good at many things, but not that.
“For the kid (Harley), he’s come through the academy, scored at Wembley, a fantastic day for the boy.”
Birmingham were left to lick their wounds, 24 hours after the League One title had been sealed, but boss Chris Davies vowed they would grow from defeat at Wembley.
“It wasn’t our best day. It was obviously Peterborough’s day, so firstly congratulates to Peterborough,” Davies said.
“Suffering is part of life, part of football and you have to feel it, take your medicine, grow from it and learn from it.
“We’re suffering because we’ve come to Wembley with all our fans and lost and that’s going to hurt obviously, but we do have to grow from it and we will do.”
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