Reds back to winning ways

Following a couple of away defeats, Barnsley picked up a welcome three points in their first ever game against Rushden and Diamonds. Manager Gudjon Thordason had obviously given his players a rollocking after the 4-0 thumping at QPR: the Reds started the game as if they had a point to prove and could have been three up within the first ten minutes. Betsy’s angled shot trickled wide of the far post, Hayward clipped the bar with a thirty yard drive and then Gorre appeared to be tripped in the penalty area, only for the referee to give a corner.

Having survived these early scares, Rushden came more and more into the game, and created several chances of their own, the best of which was wastefully lashed over the bar by Stuart Gray. Fallon then proved that his finishing could be just as bad by blasting the ball into the upper echelons of the North Stand following a good move involving Gorre and Lumsdon.

This was a frustrating period for the Reds: Barnsley had plenty of the ball but, with Rushden defending deeply, they lacked the guile to create the opportunities that their possession merited. Barnsley's best chances came when they broke quickly from defence, as when Betsy set Lumsdon up after a surging run from the halfway line, only for the midfielder to scuff his shot wide.

Rushden looked to have taken the lead on 29 minutes when Paul Kitson met Paul Hall’s cross, but Peter Handyside was well placed to clear the ball off the line. Three minutes later, Barnsley took the lead: Gorre’s trickery on the right was rewarded when his teasing cross was headed home by Kevin Betsy.

On 48 minutes, Betsy was put clean through, only to be hacked down by Rushden’s Barry Hunter. A straight red looked to be the only option, but, bizarrely, the referee only booked the clearly relieved Hunter. Any sense of injustice was eradicated a few minutes later when Betsy’s superb cross field pass picked out Gorre, who steered the ball past Billy Turley to make it 2-0.

The Reds appeared to settle for this score line, and with Rushden struggling to impose themselves, the game threatened to peter out. Barnsley should have made it three when Turley spilled a cross, but Craig Ireland’s drive was blocked on the line. The visitors rallied in the closing stages, testing Sasa IIic in the Barnsley goal on three occasions, but it was too little, too late for a Rushden side who were left to rue those early opportunities.

Overall, Barnsley fans can take a number of positives from the game. Gorre, a constant threat to the Diamonds defence, was the official man of the match, but Betsy ran him close. Lumsdon was impressive in patches, and Hayward did well before his hamstring injury forced him to leave the game just before the interval.

The negatives: Lee Crooks huffing and puffing his way around the pitch is not a pleasant sight. Will any Barnsley manager ever get this so-called “Reds fans” match fit?

The other weak link was Brian O'Callaghan. Defensively, he can do a job, as he proved with two last ditch tackles in the second half but, Gudjon, if you're reading this, an attacking fullback he is not: it was embarrassing to watch him try and support the attack in the first half. Time after time, his criminal lack of pace meant that his 'overlapping runs' were a hindrance to many Barnsley moves. He was clearly reluctant to move into space, and was seemingly incapable of taking the ball forward. O'Callaghan's performance was put into context by that of Rushden's impressive Paul Underwood, who, girly alice band aside, was everything that an attacking fullback should be.