Barnsley are finally off the mark in League One as Michael Duff joins Markus Schopp and Valerien Ismael in recent years to win their first home match as permanent Barnsley manager (Poya Asbaghi is the exception in that time)
The Reds have won six of their last nine first home games of a season, remarkably each of Barnsley’s last four Oakwell openers have finished 1-0 (W3 L1) as have six of the last nine (W4 L2)
This victory also ended Barnsley’s run of six successive league defeats, stretching back to last April.
It was also their first Oakwell victory in five (D1 L3) since defeating Bristol City 2-0 in March.
Barnsley are though unbeaten in 28 home league games in League One (including play-offs) last losing in front of their own supporters in the third tier against Chesterfield – who are now non-league – in April 2016 (W19 D9) They won three and drew one of their final four home matches in 2015-2016 which included the play-off home leg against Walsall and then went unbeaten throughout the whole home league campaign in 2018-2019, winning 15 and drawing eight.
Luke Thomas has only scored two league goals for Barnsley since joining the club in the summer of 2019 – and both have come in 1-0 wins in the opening home games of a season, previously netting on his debut in a 1-0 win over Fulham in the Championship in August 2019.
This is the first time both of Barnsley’s opening two matches have finished 1-0 since 2000-2001.
Barnsley have opened a season with an away defeat and home win for the first time since 2019-2020.
This was Barnsley’s first clean sheet in 11 outings.
Thomas’ goal came after 66 minutes, meaning they had failed to score in the first game and a half of a season since 2014-2015 (also in League One) when their first goal came after 57 minutes of the second game.
Thomas’ effort is the latest opening Barnsley goal of a season since 2013-2014 when they did not net until the 16th minute of the third match.
Nicky Cadden was forced off injured after just 37 minutes, the earliest Barnsley substitution since Romal Palmer was subbed after 25 minutes of the final home game of 2021-2022.
This was only the third ever meeting between the two clubs and Barnsley remain unbeaten (W2 D1) with this their first victory against the Robins at Oakwell.
Barnsley Team:
40. Brad Collins
21. Conor McCarthy
6. Mads Andersen
5. Liam Kitching
2. Jordan Williams
10. Josh Benson
16. Luke Thomas
4. Callum Styles
7. Nicky Cadden
9. James Norwood
27. Jack Aitchison
Substitutes:
48. Luca Connell (for Cadden 37)
44. Devante Cole (for Norwood 61)
19. Aiden Marsh (for Aitchison 61)
23. Will Hondermarck (for Thomas 88)
Unused Substitutes:
1. Jack Walton, 15. Jasper Moon, 24. Robbie Cundy.
Cheltenham Team:
1. Luke Southwood
5. Charlie Raglan
14. Caleb Taylor
2. Sean Long
22. Ryan Jackson
8. Liam Sercombe
23. Elliot Bonds
28. Taylor Perry
6. Lewis Freestone
10. Alfie May
9. Dan N'Lundulu
Substitutions:
16. Daniel Adshead (for Bonds 56)
19. George Lloyd (for N’Lundulu 56)
7. Charlie Brown (for Raglan 73)
25. Callum Ebanks (for Perry 73)
Unused Substitutes:
11. Ellis Chapman, 20. Shaun MacDonald, 24. Grant Horton
Cheltenham manager Wade Elliott said:
It wasn't a classic and we knew it was always going to be scrappy. Two similar systems and styles. We spoke about it before the game and at half-time that it was always going to be a game of a moment and we didn't expect it to be high scoring. We thought it'd be decided by one moment and they have managed to nick the moment. In a game with nothing in it, they are on the ceiling and clapping four sides of the ground and we are in the dressing room feeling terrible and hurting like mad when in reality, there was very little in the game.
Match Reports:
Sky Bet League One Results
BARNSLEY (15th) 1–0 Cheltenham Town (22nd)
Thomas 66
Bolton Wanderers (3rd) 3-0 Wycombe Wanderers (11th)
Dempsey 15
Morley 41
Dempsey 66
Burton Albion (24th) 0-4 Bristol Rovers (8th)
Evans 4
Connolly 12
Collins 40
Collins 44
Charlton Athletic (5th) 1-0 Derby County (13th)
Blackett-Taylor 62
Exeter City (2nd) 4-0 Port Vale (17th)
Kite 24
Brown pen 38
Brown 72
Nombe 75
Fleetwood Town (10th) 2-1 Plymouth Argyle (12th)
Hardie pen 23
Batty 28
Garner 88
Forest Green Rovers (9th) 1-2 Ipswich Town (7th)
Harness 37
Morsy 45+4
March 64
Milton Keynes Dons (23rd) 0-1 Sheffield Wednesday (4th)
Windass pen 22
Oxford United (14th) 1-0 Cambridge United (16th)
Goodrham 90+3
Peterborough United (1st) 3-0 Morecambe (21st)
Ward 9
Thompson 43
Kyprianou 72
Portsmouth (18th) 0-0 Lincoln City (19th)
Shrewsbury Town (20th) 0-1 Accrington Stanley (6th)
Leigh 77
Barnsley lie in 15th place in Sky Bet League One with 3 points from 2 games. We are 1 point off the Play-Offs, 1 point off the Automatic Promotion Places, 3 points off First Place and 2 points above the Relegation Zone.
Up to 30/07/22
Next Up:
On The Road:
EFL Cup First Round: Middlesbrough v Barnsley, Tuesday 9th August 2022 Kick Off: 7:45pm
At Oakwell:
Sky Bet League One Matchday Two: Barnsley v Cheltenham Town, Saturday 6th August 2022 Kick Off: 3pm