Just over eight and a half thousand fans turned up yesterday: that’s less than the number of registered season ticket holders according to Barnsley’s match day radio station. Those brave souls that did turn up were treated to the worst league game of the season. Both sides cancelled each other out in a drab ninety minutes that left both sets of supporters praying for the final whistle.
All of the drama came in the opening forty five minutes, when both sides claimed goals that should never have been given. The Reds continued their recent trend of taking early leads when Rory Fallon 'scored' his sixth goal of the season after 14 minutes. Kevin Donovan’s corner was flicked on by Chris Morgan, and the ball was then claimed by Swindon Keeper Bart Griemink. Fallon ‘challenged’ the keeper by knocking both him and the ball into the net, in a 1950s ‘Pathe News’ type of way. Both teams waited for the referee to blow for a foul but, bizarrely, the goal was given, a decision which surprised even Glyn Hodges: “He smashed the goalkeeper in like something from Nat Lofthouse’s days, but we will take it”.
Barnsley then had a brief spell of dominance and a thumping strike from Fallon forced a finger tipped save from Griemink. The Reds never really looked like extending their lead, however, and this proved costly when the visitors equalised against the run of play in the 35th minute. A hopeful punt out of defence was picked up by Danny ‘surely that’s not his real name’ Invincible, who looked to be at least ten yards offside. Unbelievably, the linesman kept his flag down and, despite Marriott blocking his first effort, Invincible knocked in the equaliser.
The second half was a non-event. Barnsley’s commitment couldn’t be faulted, as they battled for possession in midfield and stifled Swindon’s increasingly infrequent attacks by defending in numbers. However, when the Reds did win the ball, the poor quality of their passing and their painful lack of craft or guile meant that they failed to create one clear cut chance. The best effort came from substitute Mitch Ward, who has yet to score for the Reds in 72 games. His thirty yard drive looked to be heading for the top corner until Griemink pulled off a superb save. Swindon might have snatched it in the dying minutes but Invincible lashed the ball over the bar from twelve yards and then Marriott was equal to Parkin’s injury-time lob.
Reds fans can take some positives from the game. Swindon came to Oakwell on the back of a good run and Barnsley matched them on the whole. The recently adopted 5-3-2 formation does make them tighter at the back, and the Reds do look a harder team to beat.
On the other hand, this game mirrored last week’s goalless draw at Vale Park in being absolutely awful to watch. Clearly, Hodges had to something about a team that was leaking goals but the emphasis on defence has undoubtedly weakened our attack. “I won’t apologise for not being pretty on the eye, we have to be effective and that is what we were” the Reds boss said yesterday.
The most worrying aspect of the new look Barnsley team is that there seems to be no place for creativity. Hard work and ‘getting stuck in’ is the order of the day, which is fine to a point, but there were times yesterday when the game was crying out for player to put his foot on the ball and do something different. The midfield trio of Jones, Neil and Donovan can run about all day but not one of them is capable of the type of pass that Dean Gorre, a late substitute, made with one of his first touches of the ball. Gorre gave Mulligan the ball on the right by casually flicking the ball over an opponents head with the outside of his boot and, in doing so, gave the home fans a chance to applaud a brief moment of quality.
That this small piece of skill stood out so much says a great deal about this workmanlike Barnsley team. Performances like this might be enough to keep the Reds in Division 2 but, while ever players like Gorre sit on the bench, our remaining matches will not be pretty.