Peterborough given the Barnsley Chopra

Four wins out of four sent the Oakwell faithful home with something to cheer about this Xmas, and Barnsley deserved nothing less. After surviving the first ten minutes where Peterborough forced 4 corners in quick succession, the Reds took a hold of the game. On 14 minutes Boulding turned provider with a smart flick which sent Chopra away on the left. Peterborough’s keeper Tyler attempted to close the angle down, but could only watch as Chopra executed a perfect lob to give the Reds the lead.

Peterborough almost drew level 5 minutes later with Turnbull parrying a shot from Purser. Shots from Burns and Boulding went close on 23 and 43 minutes, but the halt time interval saw the Reds only one goal up.

Barnsley opened the second half with a frantic attack on the Posh goal. Both Chopra and Boulding went close, but it was Shuker who put the Reds two up, blasting home a low 20 yard shot past the diving Tyler after fine work from Boulding.

Boulding was again the provider when he flicked on Shuker’s cross for Chopra to get his second of the day. The ex-Grimsby striker deservedly received a standing ovation when Nardiello replaced him on 74 minutes, and the substitute almost scored with his first attempt, firing just wide of the post.

Nardiello then broke up Posh attack and laid the ball off for Chopra to complete a fine hat trick, courtesy of a rebound off the bar. Peterborough’s final attempt at a consolation goal saw Turnbull keep his concentration after being virtually a spectator for the second half. Conlon replaced Mcphail on 79 minutes as Barnsley went for it with 3 strikers, and then the ever impressive Reid was replaced by Carbon on 84 minutes. The Reds almost made it 5 on 87 minutes with Nardiello firing wide when Conlon was racing in for a simple tap in.

The full time whistle brought large cheers from the home crowd as the whole team stayed on the pitch to acknowledge the support of the Reds fans.

So it is 12 points out of 12, but the most satisfying thing is that, the whole team looked good, the defence looked tight (360 minutes without conceding a goal) and they are supported by an excellent goal keeper in Turnbull. The midfield is working hard, the combination of Reid and Burns in the middle worked well today breaking up Posh’s fightbacks time after time.

But the best thing to take from all of this is the partnership of Chopra and Boulding, with, as ever, energetic support from the willing Shuker who was rewarded witha fine goal. Chopra will get all the headlines for his hat trick, but a lot of credit has to go to Boulding who was provider for three of Barnsley's goals. Significantly Hart had a fully fit squad to choose from today, as one look at the bench testifed - Colgan, Austin, Carbon, Nardiello and Conlon- how many other teams in this division have that much quality on the bench?

One little gripe though (well two actually): Mcphail- we really do need to get him in the game more- we know he is a great passer etc, but Shuker put in more hard work on the right than both Williams and Mcphail on the oppostite flank.

Secondly, the full time scores - where the announcer is getting his info from is a mystery. The "results" he reads out have no resemblance to the scores you read when you get home...