It had to be them… Barnsley’s stunning 12 match unbeaten run finally came to an end with an unlucky for some 13th game bringing defeat to their near neighbours, their first Championship defeat since the 19th January.
Ironically this is the second time in 16 years that Wednesday had been Barnsley’s 13th opponents of an unbeaten run, however back in 2005 the game had finished 0-0 at Oakwell.
It was only the eighth defeat in 31 league games under Valerien Ismael and only the second against a team not currently in the top eight of the division (also at Blackburn)
Wednesday have now broken the deadlock in this fixture in nine successive meetings, going on to win four. Not since Marcus Pedersen put the Reds in front in October 2013 have Barnsley gone 1-0 up in this fixture.
It is the first time in 13 Championship outings that Barnsley have gone 1-0 down, last doing so in their previous defeat, at Watford.
This is only the third time in 12 Championship defeats in 2020-2021 in which Barnsley have scored – also doing so in 2-1 defeats at Middlesbrough and Blackburn.
Barnsley trailed at Oakwell at half time for the first time in 10 (all comps) since Swansea were the visitors on the 16th January.
It is only the third time in 23 home games (all comps) this season that the Reds have been behind at the break (Bournemouth, Swansea, Sheffield Wednesday)
Former Barnsley Academy prospect Jordan Rhodes fired a brace to give the Owls a commanding 2-0 lead, the first time Barnsley have trailed 2-0 in a game in 16 outings (all comps) since losing 2-0 to Swansea on the 16th January, with that and the 4-0 defeat to Bournemouth in December the only times Barnsley have been 2-0 down at home this season.
Rhodes is the first player to net a league brace against Barnsley this season and the first since Stoke’s Tyrese Campbell in July 2020 and the first at Oakwell since Preston’s Tom Barkhuizen in January 2020.
Following Dike’s double at Wycombe in midweek it is the first time there has been braces in successive Barnsley matches since February 2019 in League One when Cauley Woodrow did so v Gillingham and Wycombe.
Rhodes now has six goals against Barnsley including two braces.
He is the first player to score a brace in this fixture since Guylain Ndumbu-Nsungu in March 2004.
Carlton Morris had given the Reds hope of a point with his sixth goal in 11 games, it is the ninth goal scored by a Barnsley substitute this season, five of which have come from Morris.
It is the first game Morris has scored in for Barnsley which they have not gone on to win.
Aapo Halme assisted the goal, his first goal involvement since scoring at Luton in July 2020.
Wednesday’s goals came from their only two shots on target, the seventh time this season Barnsley have conceded goals from their opponents only on target efforts – also 2 v Swansea home and away and 1 v Luton, Birmingham and Huddersfield.
Tuesday will mark exactly one year since the country went into its first lockdown. Back on the 23rd March 2020 Barnsley had played one game less than they have now (37) had 34 points and were seven points adrift of safety. Fast forward 12 months on they have 30 points more and are five points clear in the play-offs.
Barnsley have scored 43 league goals under Valérien Ismaël, 25 of which have come in the second half (58%)
Barnsley have now won only one of the last 14 meetings with Wednesday with this the seventh defeat in that run.
They have failed to win any of the last seven Oakwell clashes going back to October 2008 (D4 L3) It is Barnsley’s longest ever home run without defeating their neighbours.
This result ended a run of four successive 1-1 Oakwell draws between the two sides and Barnsley have now failed to score more than once against the Owls for seven Oakwell meetings (1,0,1,1,1,1,1) and indeed have only done so in one of the last 12.
Barnsley Team:
40. Brad Collins
26. Michael Sollbauer
30. Michal Helik
6. Mads Andersen
7. Callum Brittain
21. Romal Palmer
27. Alex Mowatt
4. Callum Styles
28. Dominik Frieser
9. Cauley Woodrow
10. Daryl Dike
Substitutes:
24. Aapo Halme (for Palmer 45)
14. Carlton Morris (for Frieser 45)
20. Toby Sibbick (for Sollbauer 45)
11. Conor Chaplin (for Woodrow 68)
Unused Substitutes:
1. Jack Walton, 2. Jordan Williams, 22. Clarke Oduor, 29. Victor Adeboyejo, 34. Jasper Moon.
Sheffield Wednesday Team:
28. Joe Wildsmith
19. Osaze Urhoghide
15. Tom Lees
13. Julian Börner
2. Liam Palmer
8. Joey Pelupessy
10. Barry Bannan
11. Adam Reach
5. Callum Paterson
18. Josh Windass
20. Jordan Rhodes
Substitutions:
16. Andre Green (for Windass 84)
Unused Substitutes:
7. Kadeem Harris, 14. Matthew Penney, 24. Isaiah Brown, 29. Alex Hunt, 34. Ciaran Brennan, 37. Ryan Galvin, 44. Luke Jackson, 45. Elias Kachunga.
Sheffield Wednesday manager Darren Moore said:
"I'm really pleased for everyone at the football club to get three much-needed points today. We wanted to finish the week strongly and I thought that we did that.
"Looking at the performance, we knew that we had to come here and be strong, resolute and dependable. Barnsley make it really difficult for teams coming here. We had to stand up against them and we did that.
"I've seen a slow improvement week after week and it was good to see the players apply themselves today. I'm really pleased with the players today. Feeling that adulation from the three points is really important for them."
Sky Bet Championship results
SATURDAY 20TH MARCH 2021
Brentford (4th) 1-1 Nottingham Forest (17th)
Toney pen 12
Krovinovic 63
BARNSLEY (5th) 1-2 Sheffield Wednesday (23rd)
Rhodes 38
Rhodes 53
Morris 78
Bristol City (14th) 0-2 Rotherham United (22nd)
Smith 44
Wood 74
Coventry City (20th) 0-0 Wycombe Wanderers (24th)
Millwall (10th) 1-0 Middlesbrough (9th)
Hall og 31
Norwich City (1st) 1-1 Blackburn Rovers (15th)
McLean 53
Gallagher 77
Preston North End (16th) 0-1 Luton Town (13th)
Iversen og 83
Reading (6th) 1-1 Queens Park Rangers (12th)
Dykes 45
Meite 57
Stoke City (11th) 1-0 Derby County (19th)
Brown 74
Watford (2nd) 3-0 Birmingham City (21st)
Sema 4
Chalobah 55
Gray 80
Swansea City (3rd) 0-1 Cardiff City (8th)
Flint 8
Barnsley lie in 5th place in the Sky Bet Championship with 64 points from 38 games. We are 5 points inside the Play-Offs, 11 points off the Automatic Promotion Places, 19 points off First Place and 29 points above the Relegation Zone.
Up to 21/3/21
Next Up:
At Oakwell:
Sky Bet Championship Matchday Thirty Nine: Barnsley v Reading, Friday 2nd April 2021. Kick-Off: 5:30pm
On The Road:
Sky Bet Championship Matchday Forty: Luton Town v Barnsley, Monday 5th April 2021. Kick-Off: 3pm