Barnsley hero Kayode Odejayi is hoping he has finally silenced the fans who made his life a misery at the start of the season.
Odejayi emerged as the toast of the Tykes after scoring the winner to send holders Chelsea crashing out of the FA Cup and Barnsley into the semi-finals for the first time in 96 years.
When the Nigerian was substituted with 10 minutes remaining, he was given a standing ovation, which was a far cry from the abuse he received early on in his Oakwell career.
The £200,000 buy from Cheltenham last summer struggled to make the leap from League One to Championship, so incurring the wrath of the fans, who felt boss Simon Davey had wasted money.
Odejayi was Saturday a player transformed as he met the challenge of Chelsea skipper John Terry head on, before then beating Carlo Cudicini to the punch with a downward header from a Martin Devaney cross in the 66th minute.
For Odejayi, as he rightly pointed out, it was "the stuff of which dreams are made," and hopefully an end to the earlier nightmares.
"The fans did get on my back, which was disappointing to hear," reflected the 26-year-old. "I tried to block it out, but sometimes I did hear stuff. I guess the fans are entitled to their opinion.
"But I knew I was big enough and professional enough to deal with it, and I did, and now I'm starting to come out on the other side.
"Hopefully, this performance will have gone a long way to turning them around."
As Odejayi struggled for goals and form, Davey was forced to drop him from the starting line-up, but he never lost faith.
"He did take some stick at the start of the season, but he managed to come through it. He never moaned once," said Davey. "When I signed him in the summer, I believed in him from the word go. We've always known he is a good player and that he would come good.
"He is raw and he is still improving, but he is an intelligent lad and he wants to learn. I did have to pull him out of the side at one stage, though, but he then proceeded to work extra hard in training.
"I then put him back in, and he's tortured defences at times. From his heart and his head, he's worked his socks off.
Odejayi's strike ended a 28-match drought stretching back to mid-September when he scored in a 2-0 home win over Scunthorpe.
Not only was it enough to cause another remarkable upset, but he received an additional reward.
"After the game John Terry gave me his shirt," smiled Odejayi. "He signed it for me and wished me all the best. It's a nice memento of the day, and he is a top man for that.
"I'll have to get it framed and find a place for it somewhere in my house."
An FA Cup winner's medal would sit nicely alongside it, with Odejayi believing Barnsley can complete their fairytale journey.
"The big teams have fallen out, two of them losing to us, so we shouldn't fear anyone," added Odejayi.
"We just need to look forward to the semi-final and try and enjoy the day out, but with the teams that have gone, it's anybody's now."
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