Joey Barton's buzzing with his Fleetwood Town history boys

Fleetwood boss Joey Barton hailed the Cod Army for their role as the 12th man in Town's historic 3-2 derby win over Blackpool at Highbury.
Joey Barton celebrates Fleetwood Town's historic victory over BlackpoolJoey Barton celebrates Fleetwood Town's historic victory over Blackpool
Joey Barton celebrates Fleetwood Town's historic victory over Blackpool
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VERDICT: Fleetwood Town 3 Blackpool 2

Barton says the players fed off the atmosphere created by 5,035 supporters, Highbury’s biggest attendance of the season, as sublime goals by Wes Burns and Ross Wallace put Town 2-0 up after 11 minutes.

Blackpool’s Jordan Thompson pulled one back by half-time only for Paddy Madden to come off the bench and make it 3-1.

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Nathan Delfouneso quickly narrowed the gap again but Fleetwood held on to record their first league victory over the Seasiders.

Barton said: “A fantastic occasion and I am buzzing for our fans because the guys behind the goal got the nice big new flag. I’m sure Jamie Pilley (son of the club’s owner, Andy) will be responsible for that.

“The lads feed off that. You do not need 60-70,000 people.

“On Saturday we had 5,000, both sets of fans contributing to create an incredible atmosphere.

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“The players feed off that – you saw the goals we scored – and it is vital they keep doing that.

“The fans have been fantastic, not just today but over the course of the season, and it is great to repay them with a win they will be savouring.”

Eight years ago Blackpool won promotion to the Premier League and Town went up to the top level of non-league football.

Now Fleetwood have beaten their near neighbours in the game’s third tier and Barton said: “I’m just buzzing for everyone, for Andy (Pilley) and Steve Curwood (chief executive). It is priceless seeing their smiles.

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“I know it is a big thing but I probably do not understand the full ramifications.For two men who had been supporters of Blackpool to take this club in the manner they have and develop it to this point, I can imagine this would be an incredibly special day for them.

“The key for me is to deliver this kind of performance and result on a regular basis.”

Barton’s first-team coach Clint Hill was sent off for pushing Blackpool’s Marc Bola in the technical area and faces a three-match ban.

Barton said: “I actually do not know what happened. I was just keeping my nose clean, as I do.

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“There were a lot of skirmishes around me but I was just on my best behaviour.”

Nor did Barton have a clear view of the incident which saw Blackpool’s Armand Gnanduillet sent off for clashing with James Husband.

The Town boss said: “It just looks like a little bit of frustration but I don’t think it was that type of game.

“It was a good, fair, physical contest, both sides competing and you never like to see players sent from the park or members of your staff sent from the technical area.

“It is what it is. I will reprimand Clint and make sure he learns his lessons for the next games.”

Barton said of the Gnanduillet dismissal: “It actually helped us because he was causing us all sorts