Reds Wrap Up Another Unbeaten Pre-Season

Andy Gray put himself in pole position to lead the line in Barnsley’s first game of the new season at Queens Park Rangers next weekend, after notching his third goal of pre-season in a comfortable 2-0 win at the B2Net Stadium- home of League Two side Chesterfield. There was also a much needed first goal for maligned new signing Liam Dickinson, as The Reds made it five wins out of five this summer.

Of course pre-season results mean nothing as last summer, Barnsley won nine and drew one of their 10 match programme yet lost five of the first six league games but with Mark Robins trying to bed in seven new signings (compared with none under Simon Davey last summer) the continued good results are promising.

Robins went with the same 4-4-1-1 formation and starting eleven from the Sheffield Wednesday friendly- the side that looks like starting next weekend unless Jim O’Brien recovers from injury to replace Martin Devaney.

It took an hour for The Reds to open the scoring but when it arrived it involved two new signings and was finished by one player who looked like he would be heading out of Oakwell this summer before turning things around.

Goran Lovre, raced away down the right, before sending in an inch perfect cross for Gray. The striker’s header was brilliantly saved by Spireites keeper Tommy Lee, before dropping to the newest recruit Jeronimo Neumann. The Argentine somehow smacked the crossbar from six yards out, before Gray finally knocked the ball in.

The win was sealed three minutes from time when an awful back pass released substitute Dickinson, who rounded Lee before slotting the ball into the unguarded net.

Teams:

CHESTERFIELD: Lee, Hunt (Gray 80), Breckin, Ford, Morris, Allott, Mattis (Bowery 70), Whitaker, Talbot, Davies, Lester (Boden 77).
Subs: Redmond, Clay, Niven, Granger, Adcock, Darikwa.

BARNSLEY:

Luke Steele

Bobby Hassell (Hume 78),

Jay McEveley

Stephen Foster

Jason Shackell

Nathan Doyle

Jacob Butterfield (Colace 45)

Martin Devaney (Neumann 45)

Adam Hammill

Andy Gray (Dickinson 80)

Goran Lovre.