Barnsley won successive games for the first time this season as Valerien Ismael continued his 100% record and the Reds moved up to 15th in the Championship table – their highest position since the 17th August 2019 when they were 14th after a 2-2 draw with Charlton.
The Reds have won back to back home matches in the same season for the first time since April 2019 and the first time in the Championship since August 2017.
It is the 10th time Barnsley have won back to back Championship games since their promotion in 2016.
Ismael is the first Reds manager to win his opening two games since Daniel Stendel did so in League One in 2018-2019 and the first at this level since Simon Davey in 2006 who started with back to back 2-0 wins (against Ipswich and Southend)
All four of Barnsley’s wins this season (2 league, 2 cup) have been accompanied with clean sheets, the first time their first four wins of a season have been accompanied with shut-outs since 2012-2013 (Middlesbrough 1-0, Bristol City 1-0, Birmingham 5-0, Charlton 1-0) - those four victories came in 13 games compared to 12 this season.
Barnsley have opened the scoring in five successive games for the first time since a run of five in November/December 2019 (v Hull, Cardiff, Reading, QPR and Millwall)
They have scored in six successive games for the first time since a run of six which included the five above matches plus a 1-1 draw with West Brom at the end.
Barnsley are unbeaten in five successive Championship games (W2 D3) for the first time since a run of five in December 2019 (W2 D3)
Barnsley have led at half time in four of their last five matches – only failing to do so against Millwall due to an injury time equaliser.
Barnsley are now unbeaten in their last 16 Championship games in which they have opened the scoring (W12 D4) last losing when breaking the deadlock at Cardiff in December 2019.
George Miller came off the bench for only his third appearance for the club, and first since August 2019.
Patrick Schmidt started a game for only the third time in the Championship (from 35 appearances) and the first time since the 2nd January at Derby.
Barnsley have now made nine half time substitutions this season (all comps)
Barnsley have hit double figures for points after nine games (double what they had at this stage last season) and their most at this stage of a Championship season since 2016-2017 when they had 15.
Alex Mowatt scored the only goal after six minutes, excluding injury time it meant Barnsley held a lead for 84minutes, the longest amount of time since February 2019 when they led from the first minute at Gillingham.
It’s the longest Championship lead since April 2017 at Blackburn when they led from three minutes.
Barnsley have won each of their last two matches on Halloween and three of the last four.
Barnsley picked up only their second victory in nine meetings with Watford, having lost five of those nine.
They have though won two of the last three Oakwell meetings and have lost only one of the last nine.
The Reds have scored exactly one goal in each of the last four Oakwell meetings whilst home or away they have failed to net more than once in any of the last 12 clashes.
Watford had 66% ball possession in the game, the most by an opponent at Oakwell since Leeds in September 2019 (67%)
Watford failed to register a single shot on target, the second time Barnsley have stopped their opponents testing their goalkeeper at Oakwell this season (also Coventry)
It is the first time Watford have failed to have a shot on target this season and indeed since a 4-0 Premier League defeat to Manchester City in July. It is the first time in a Championship game since a 1-0 defeat to Ipswich back in March 2015.
There were only five corners, the lowest in a Barnsley game since December 2019 v QPR (also 5)
Barnsley Team:
1. Jack Walton
26. Michael Sollbauer
30. Michal Helik
6. Mads Andersen
7. Callum Brittain
32. Matty James
27. Alex Mowatt
4. Callum Styles
11. Conor Chaplin
28. Dominik Frieser
19. Patrick Schmidt
Substitutes:
22. Clarke Oduor (for Brittain 45)
25. George Miller (for Schmidt 58)
8. Herbie Kane (for James 73)
Unused Substitutes:
24. Aapo Halme, 40. Brad Collins, 23. Elliot Simoes, 16. Luke Thomas
Watford Team:
1 Ben Foster
12. Ken Sema
6. Ben Wilmot
5. William Troost-Ekong
15. Craig Cathcart
21. Kiko
29. Etienne Capoue
8. Tom Cleverley
14. Nathaniel Chalobah
10. Joao Pedro
23. Ismaila Sarr
Substitutions:
16. James Garner (for Chalobah 66)
18. Andre Gray (for Troost-Ekong 76)
19. Will Hughes (for Cleverley 82)
Unused Substitutes:
27. Christian Kabasele, 26. Daniel Bachmann, 3. Jeremy Ngakia, 20. Quina.
Watford manager Vladimir Ivicsaid:
"We only started to play after the goal we conceded. We had more mobility maybe than in some previous games, but it still wasn't enough.
"We created the opportunities to score, but we couldn't get the shots on target and because of that we are disappointed. We made a mistake and the guy from Barnsley scored a fantastic goal. We know that if we make mistakes then they will punish you.
"It's a game that didn't give us what we want but we need to rest now and think about the next game because it's on Wednesday and it will be tough."
Sky Bet Championship results
FRIDAY 30TH OCTOBER 2020
Coventry City (20th) 3-2 Reading (1st)
Hamer 22
Lucas Joao 66
Godden 76
McCallum 85
Puscas 90+2
SATURDAY 31ST OCTOBER 2020
Bristol City (10th) 1-3 Norwich City (4th)
Pukki 6
Pukki 14
Hunt 15 Buendia 45+2
BARNSLEY (15th) 1-0 Watford (6th)
Mowatt 6
AFC Bournemouth (3rd) 1-1 Derby County (22nd)
Shinnie 13
Riquelme 81
Luton Town (13th) 0-3 Brentford (9th)
Henry 20
Toney 29
Forss 76
Middlesbrough (5th) 1-0 Nottingham Forest (21st)
Johnson 81
Millwall (7th) 0-3 Huddersfield Town (12th)
Koroma 18
Avila 89
O’Brien 90+3
Preston North End (16th) 1-2 Birmingham City (11th)
McGree 2
Stockley 24
Gardner 85
Queens Park Rangers (18th) 3-2 Cardiff City (17th)
Chair 15
Kane 27
Ralls pen 49
Ralls 85
Ball 90+1
Stoke City (8th) 1-0 Rotherham United (19th)
McClean 27
Swansea City (2nd) 2-0 Blackburn Rovers (14th)
Cabango 25
Ayew 61
Wycombe Wanderers (23rd) 1-0 Sheffield Wednesday (24th)
Wheeler 45+3
Barnsley lie in 15th place in the Sky Bet Championship with 10 points from 9 games. We are 5 points off the Play-Offs, 8 points off the Automatic Promotion Places, 12 points off First Place and 4 points above the Relegation Zone.
Up to 1/11/20
Next Up:
On The Road:
Sky Bet Championship Matchday Ten: Cardiff City v Barnsley, Tuesday 3rd November 2020. Kick-Off: 7:45pm.
At Oakwell:
Sky Bet Championship Matchday Twelve: Barnsley v Nottingham Forest, Saturday 21st November 2020. Kick-Off: 3pm