Three points..but only just

Barnsley scraped a vital win against Port Vale at Oakwell, courtesy of a late penalty from the ever-popular Paul Gibbs. The three points were crucial given our recent poor form and increasingly worrying league position, but the performance left a lot to be desired. Barnsley proved once again that they have an uncanny habit of making life extremely difficult for themselves.

The Reds started brightly, with Betsy and Gorre causing numerous problems for the Vale back four. It was no surprise when they took an early lead, Fallon heading in a corner at the near post, aided by some non-existent marking. This should have been the trigger for the Reds to go on and reinforce their superiority by taking a workmanlike but poor opposition apart.

Predictably, that didn’t happen and Port Vale’s McPhee began to cause havoc, despite sporting a dodgy mullet with highlights, a la Black Lace. On the stroke of half-time, the Reds were pegged back when that man McPhee broke away and put in a superb cross, which O’Callaghan promptly lashed past Marriott for a superb own goal.

The second half saw Barnsley start brightly once again, but it looked like being one of those days until the 79th minute when Betsy was brought down after a strong run through the heart of the Vale back four. In Lumsdon’s absence, there was no obvious penalty taker - Dyer appeared to grab the ball initially - but Gibbs soon emerged as the man for the job, to audible shock / horror from the Oakwell faithful.

Paul Gibbs is a player renowned for being a defensive liability, for frequently blaming his team-mates for his own inadequacies and for possessing one of the finest chins in modern-day football. He is not renowned for taking penalties. As he stepped up, people in the back row of the stand behind the goal were clearly preparing to catch the ball. Our fears proved to be futile as Gibbs slammed the ball straight down the middle to give Barnsley a victory that they had just about deserved.

A few plus points can be taken from the game. Betsy was a constant threat to the Vale defence, (although his finishing let him down once again), Dyer was always available and held the ball up well and Hayward worked hard during his first full 90 minutes for a long, long time. We also looked a threat from set-pieces, which made a refreshing change, and Barrowclough looked bright when he came on near the end.

On the other hand, there are numerous problems with the current team, not least the back four. Glyn Hodges, and his increasingly dubious team selections, should be mentioned here. O’Callaghan is not a right back (he’s not a footballer in my opinion, but that’s by the by), he is a centre half, so why is he being played out of position, particularly when we have Neil Austin sat on the bench? Austin won more tackles in the ten minutes he was on the field than O’Callaghan had won in the previous eighty.

We haven’t kept a clean sheet in 22 league and cup games, which probably explains why, on Saturday, the whole back four visibly panicked whenever the ball entered the Barnsley half. Sitting 16th in the table, we are not out of trouble by any means, and unless we can sort out our defensive frailties, we will continue to struggle.