Phil SumblerMatt Grimes scored what can only be described as a world class goal on Saturday night to effectively seal the Swans place at Wembley in the Championship play off final and over the course of two legs put in a captain’s performance of which anyone can be proud.
Grimes has never been short of his critics during his time at Swansea but with over 150 appearances for the club it would have been his most important goal to date and one that attracted the praise that his strike deserved.
Grimes strike came five minutes before the interval on Saturday and was a perfect tonic for the Swans who went into the second half with a two goal advantage which proved to be too much for Barnsley to overcome despite a Woodrow goal in the second half.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKDsoFP-IZw
Grimes strike and performance attracted some praise as well from both Leon Britton and Nathan Dyer both of whom know Grimes well and, of course, know what it is like to be part of a promotion winning team having been there themselves ten years ago.
“Matty’s goal was a little bit reminiscent of mine against Nottingham Forest all those years ago. It was a left-footed curling shot into the far corner at that same end of the stadium. But to be fair, I think he’s got a better left foot than I have!” said Britton looking back fondly on his goal ten years ago that lit up the semi final against Nottingham Forest.
“In these games, you’re looking at players like Matty to be a hero. He certainly did that and it was a reflection on what a great season he’s had.”
Whilst former Swans winger Nathan Dyer added “It wasn’t much of a surprise to see Grimesey score in the way that he did. I can’t speak highly enough of him; he’s such a nice guy off the pitch and showed his quality with the goal.
“I’m not kidding, he does that in every training session and I’d always tell him to shoot more often.
“When he first came to the club, he arrived with a lot of promise. Although he spent a lot of time out on loan, he’s come back a much better player and has grown massively.
“To produce what he did on the big stage in a massive game was brilliant.”
