'I knew I'd score the winner' Darren Byfield remembers Walsall's 2001 play-off triumph
Darren Byfield waited patiently on the bench at the Millennium Stadium.
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Walsall were trailing 2-1 against Reading in the first half of extra-time in the 2001 Second Division play-off final.
Don Goodman had cancelled out Jamie Cureton's first half opener, but Reading had restored their lead at the start of extra-time through ex-Saddlers striker Martin Butler of all people.
Walsall needed a saviour and Graydon finally turned to his bench in the 98th-minute. Byfield was unleashed into the action and was determined to fulfil his pre-match prophecy.
"I've never felt like this before or since, but I knew I was going to score the winner," Byfield recalls.
"I can't even explain it, but I just knew. It was a thing throughout the week where I just felt it was written."
Byfield had been on the periphery towards the end of the campaign and failed to even make the squad for the goalless draw at Stoke City in the first leg of the semi-finals.
An injury to Fitzroy Simpson saw him step-up on to the bench for the return leg at Bescot but Byfield still only played six minutes in their 4-2 rout over the Potters.
