DION Charles had only one request after scoring at Wembley to help Wanderers lift the Papa Johns Trophy: “Somebody pinch me!”
Taking his tally to 19 club goals for the season, the Northern Ireland international scored the second of the day for Ian Evatt’s men as they stunned Plymouth Argyle 4-0.
Charles finished off a flowing move involving Kyle Dempsey, Elias Kachunga and Conor Bradley to really put the Whies in pole position just nine minutes into the game.
And he admits it was hard to describe the feeling of scoring in front of 79,000 fans, just a few years after coming out of non-league football.
“It is brilliant and means absolutely everything to me,” he said. “I have come the long, hard way to get to where I am today, through hard work and dedication.
“Scoring at Wembley is something you dream about as a kid. But I just went a bit numb after scoring, I didn’t really know what to do. All the lads went into the corner and just started jumping on me.
“With the goals I scored (for Northern Ireland) in San Marino, this is all just a pinch me moment, to see where I have come from in a short space of time.”
Charles paid tribute to the support Wanderers got on the day and promised that while victory would be celebrated, the league campaign remained their primary target.
“The fans were brilliant. They spurred us on to that performance. It’s all for them.
“We can't get too ahead of ourselves. We have to take it game by game and try to put a run together.
“Today we had a clear game plan and executed it perfectly. But we have to take that performance into Exeter now where three points is on the line and do it again.
“But to do what we did, to come from where the club has come from to win at Wembley, it’s amazing, it really is.”
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