Kian Spence on winning the derby but losing his parents amid 2,000 Rotherham United fans

But finding his parents was a different matter.

The match-winner in the South Yorkshire showdown scanned the crowd to no effect as he celebrated with his teammates in front of the away end at Oakwell after the final whistle.

“My mum and dad were here but I couldn't see them,” the midfielder smiled. “I didn't know where they were sitting.

“With all the fans that we had, all I could see was a massive wall of people. I've already checked my phone and they've sent me messages.”

The 24-year-old was talking around half an hour after the final whistle had blown on a contest during which he hit the goal in a 1-0 triumph will go down in Millers folklore.

He came to Rotherham in the summer, he got injured, he had to bide his time ... now he's showing why the recruitment team were so certain he could step up a division from League Two where he'd been a standout performer with Barrow.

“I want to play games, I want to contribute,” he said. “As I said when I signed, I'm confident in my ability and I just want to show the lads, the staff, the fans that and do what I can for the club.

“For it to be a stop-start beginning for me was obviously frustrating. Now that I am fit and starting to feel like myself, I just want to build on that and improve. I'm grateful to the gaffer for giving me that chance.”

The midfielder had a good scoring record at his previous club and already has two goals to his name with new employers.

An unerring effort from outside the penalty area came in a Vertu Trophy victory over Oldham Athletic and he bettered that with his first-time, 20-yard strike against the Tykes.

“Try not to hit it over the bar, keep it low,” he said as he revealed what was on his mind as he lined up his pinpoint shot.

“When it leaves your foot, you see the flight of the ball, where it's going and where the keeper is. It was one of those where I knew it was going in, and it's the best feeling in football. Those few seconds are second to none.

“It's up there as one of my best because it's my first league goal for the club and it's in a derby and in a big stadium as well.”

His 64th-minute moment was a reward for the 'extras' he's done in training over the years to turn himself from a deep-lying player into a box-to-box runner with an eye for the spectacular.

“I practise my shooting, although not ones like today – you just hit those as they come,” he said. ”But I work on areas I might get into, trying to hit the ball into the corners of the net, trying to get a feel for both feet and just trying to keep myself fine-tuned really.”

Not so long ago, Rotherham were in the bottom four. Three league wins and a draw later, they're closing in on the top ten.

“It's hard when you are losing games and tough to get out of that rut,” Spence said. “We've always known that we have good players and that we're capable of a lot more.

“Even with this performance, we're capable of a lot more. Getting on a run and hopefully maintaining that is what we all want. Hopefully, we'll keep clicking and we'll get better and better.”

The Millers' fourth victory on the bounce in all competitions didn't come easy. They had to stand firm against Barnsley before prevailing in a derby that had taken on even more significance because of their long record of failure in Tykes territory.

With injured players returning and manager Matt Hamshaw's influence taking effect, Rotherham have taken a significant leap forward through October.

“We work hard through the week on what the opposition are going to do, what combinations they might work and what they'll try to exploit,” Spence said.

“We work our hardest to try to nullify that, and I think we did that well today, although they had a lot of pressure.

“We tried to limit them to as few chances as we could. Daws (Cameron Dawson) made some great saves and we made some last-ditch blocks, which always helps. The lads dug in and, thankfully, we got the three points.

“The gaffer was on us all week, making sure we knew it and knew how important the match was to him and all the fans, making sure it was important to us as well.

“I think you could see in the performance – how much effort we gave to try to hang on, how much we gave from minute one – that it meant a lot to the players. We're buzzing that we could end that Oakwell run.”

Mission accomplished by the Millers, mission accomplished by the goal hero. But Spence still had one job left …

“I'll give my old man and mum a ring on the way home.”