Barnsley provided the 2,000 or so travelling fans with a great second half display of attacking football. Andy Ritchie stuck with the same side that gave a good account of themselves on Saturday at Oakwell against Cardiff City.
Barnsley started brightly with Devaney bringing a great save out of Hull's American keeper Bo Myhill at the near post. Seconds later Paul Hayes had a shot cleared off the line by City defender Andy Dawson.
Hull had a couple of early chances and took the lead on 6 minutes after Craig Fagan nutmegged Paul Heckingbottom and slid the ball across the six yard box to ex-Red Jon Parkin who flicked the ball past Nick Colgan.
Shell-shocked, The Reds went in search of an instant equaliser but were hit with another sucker punch. Jon Parkin and Nick Colgan went up for a high ball of which Parkin won, sent Colgan crashing to the ground with a broken nose and netted Hull's second – cue chants of “Championship, you're having a laugh” from the East Stand.
City almost went 3-0 up when Dean Marney fired a pile driver over after good work by Parkin.
Hull had their chances but the Reds went about trying to reduce the deficit after Martin Devaney's corner was headed wide by Marc Richards under pressure from Michael Turner. Seconds later the Reds put together a beautiful passing move which finished with a powder puff Hayes header.
The four minutes of first half injury time due to Colgan's injury benefited the Reds when 3 minutes into injury time Michael McIndoe scrambled Richards low cross over the line for his first goal for the club.
The goal will have sent Andy Ritchie's men into the break with renewed hope and 2 minutes after half time they got their due reward. Paul Heckingbottom headed Michael McIndoe's cross onto the post and Richards was in the right place at the right time to nod the ball over the line to send the away end into pandemonium.
The Reds almost grabbed a third when Sam Togwell's through ball was latched onto by Richards who fluffed his shot straight to Myhill. Minutes later Craig Fagan should have put Hull City back into the lead after a Jon Parkin cross found its way through to him but he fired over.
The Reds took the lead on 72 minutes to complete a fantastic comeback. Sam Ricketts hooked the ball back into the Hull area and Tommy Wright went up to challenge Myhill, the keeper flapped at the ball and Hayes was on hand to volley the ball home cue mayhem in the Smith and Nephew North Stand and the chant “Championship – you're having a laugh” reversed on the City fans.
After the third goal went in City had 18 minutes to respond but to be fair they didn't look like scoring after the Reds went ahead.
A great win for the Reds and let's hope we can carry that performance into Saturday with fellow relegation battlers Colchester.
Player Ratings
Nick Colgan – Played well for 81 minutes with a broken nose after Jon Parkin probably fouled him for Hull's second goal. 7
Bobby Hassell – Didn't put a foot wrong, brilliant in the air, great tackling and a fantastic performance. 10
Paul Reid – Captain Fantastic. Didn't give Darryl Duffy a chance. 8
Antony Kay – Another good performance from Antony tonight. Made some good clearances and some good headers. 8
Paul Heckingbottom – Looked good down the left and supported McIndoe well. 7
Martin Devaney – Looked very good first half and made some great surging runs but faded second half. 6
Sam Togwell – Very good once again. Very strong in the centre of the park and didn't let Welsh have any space. 8
Brian Howard – Another decent performance by Howard. Got stuck in and didn't give anything away. Got a great ovation when he went off. 7 (Subbed)
Michael McIndoe – Fantastic first half performance and chipped in with a goal. Like Devaney, faded a bit second half. 8 (Subbed)
Paul Hayes – Wasn't at his best but he got a very important goal and set up some good attacks. 7
Marc Richards – Got a goal but I'm not too sure he's Championship quality. Still, not a bad performance. 6 (Subbed)
Substitutes
Tommy Wright – Gave a great account of himself and put my rating of him right up. Put goalkeeper and defenders under pressure, and won a lot of headers too. Rock on Tommy!! 7
Robbie Williams – Made some good headers just after he came on and didn't do anything wrong. 6
Dale Tonge – Can't give him a rating because I don't think he touched the ball!!
Most impressed by Hull's: Dean Marney – Looked good on the ball, not sure why they substituted him 5 minutes into the second half.
Ref Rating: Scott Mathieson (Cheshire) – A good referee. Wasn't too fussy, kept his cards in his pockets when on a couple of occasions he could have booked players. 8
Coca Cola Championship Results Tuesday 8th August 2006:
Cardiff 1-1 West Brom
Colchester 0-1 Plymouth
Crystal Palace 3-1 Southend
Hull 2-3 Barnsley
Leicester 0-1 Burnley
Norwich 2-0 Preston
QPR 2-2 Leeds
Sheff Wed 0-1 Luton
Stoke 2-0 Derby
Wolves 1-0 Ipswich
Barnsley lie in 13th place in the Championship with 3 points from 2 games. We are 1 point off the Play-Offs, 3 points off the Automatic Promotion Places, 3 points off First Place, 3 points clear of the Relegation Zone.
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