October 2012
The end of September saw Blackburn dispense with Steve Kean as manager and due to The Reds mauling of Birmingham, their gaffer Keith Hill was mentioned as a possible replacement, but October proved to be a torrid month on the field for Barnsley.
They started off with a 2-0 home defeat to Peterborough, who had ended a seven game losing start to the season with a 3-1 victory at Hull three days earlier. George Boyd and Tyrone Barnett did the damage in the opening ten minutes to end Barnsley’s unbeaten home record in 2012-2013.
FT: Barnsley 0 Peterborough United 2 (Boyd 2, Barnett 10). Attendance: 8,319.
Next up was a massive Yorkshire derby at Leeds United. Victory would have put The Reds on the same points as their West Yorkshire neighbours but Leeds secured the spoils with a highly controversial goal. Neil Warnock’s side were awarded a 42nd minute penalty for a foul which occurred OUTSIDE the box and Luciano Becchio slotted home to give Leeds their first league win over Barnsley in 14 years.
FT: Leeds United 1 (Becchio 42p) Barnsley 0. Attendance: 22,569.
During the following week Craig Davies was called up to the Wales squad for the first time in four years for World Cup Qualifiers against Scotland and Croatia. He would come on as a sub in a 2-1 victory over Scotland but remain benched for the 2-0 defeat in Croatia.
Rob Edwards joined Fleetwood Town on loan on the 10th October. The 29-year-old defender had failed to make an appearance for The Reds in the first three months of the season and moved to Highbury Stadium on a one-month deal.
Barnsley returned from the international break with another fine win on the road. Tomasz Cywka’s 64th minute effort sealed only a second ever win at Charlton.
FT: Charlton Athletic 0-1 Barnsley (Cywka 64). Attendance: 26,185.
Barnsley’s attempts to sign John Rooney- brother of England star Wayne- were put on hold and they suffered major blow when top scorer Craig Davies was ruled out for up to six weeks with a hamstring injury.
The recent patchy home form continued with a 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace. Glen Murray grabbed his eighth goal of the season to give the Eagles an early 11th minute lead and it took a late 86th strike from David Perkins to rescue a point.
FT: Barnsley 1 (Perkins 86) Crystal Palace 1 (Murray 11). Attendance: 8,195.
Rooney signed on the dotted line but Barnsley were torn apart in front of their own supporters by Nottingham Forest to drop to within three points of the relegation zone.
Marlon Harewood grabbed his first goal since returning to the club, against his former side after 24 minutes but in the ten minutes before the break the Reds rearguard simply fell apart allowing Greg Halford, Simon Cox and Chris Cohen to give the visitors a commanding 3-1 half time lead. Jermaine Jenas added another in the second half to hand The Reds their heaviest home defeat of the season.
FT: Barnsley 1 (Harewood 24) Nottingham Forest 4 (Halford 35, Cox 42, Cohen 45, Jenas 77). Attendance: 10,186.
There was one bright spot to end a pretty poor month as John Stones was called up once again to the England Under 19 squad for the game against Finland in November.
October League Record: Played 5; Won 1; Drawn 1; Lost 3; For 3; Against 8; GD -5; Points 4.
Overall League Record: Played 13; Won 4; Drawn 3; Lost 6; For 15; Against 20; GD -5; Points 15; Position: 19th.