Barnsley finish Boxing Day in their highest position for four years as a fourth come from behind win in seven outings moved the Reds into the top ten of the Championship on this festive day for the first time since being ninth on Boxing Day 2016.
If you compare the two seasons, Barnsley have lost one less game (8) and conceded eight goals less than four years ago however have played two games less this time around.
The eight defeats is Barnsley’s lowest by Boxing Day in the second tier since 2010 (also 8)
After failing to win any of 63 Championship matches when conceding the first goal spanning three years, Barnsley have now won four of the last six matches in which they have gone 1-0 behind.
It is the first time they have won as many as four Championship matches in a season when conceding the first goal since 2009-2010.
Barnsley have now conceded the first goal in eight of their last night matches, only scoring first against Wycombe.
They have in total conceded the first goal in 12 of their 21 league games in 2020-2021 (W4 L8)
Of these four successive games in which Barnsley have conceded first all four games have seen Jack Walton concede within the first quarter of an hour (4, 2, 2, 13) and have conceded by this point in five of the last six.
It is the first time Barnsley have conceded in four successive Championship games all within the first 15 minutes of the games since May/August 2009 when they finished the 2008-2009 season by conceding after 12 minutes at Plymouth and then started 2009-2010 by conceding after nine minutes at Sheffield Wednesday, eight minutes at home to Coventry and 11 minutes at home to Preston.
Michal Helik grabbed Barnsley’s equaliser with a goal decided by goal-line technology, he is the only defender to score a league goal for the Reds this season.
And of course he went on to grab the injury time winner, the first time a Barnsley defender has netted a brace since Lewin Nyatanga scored twice in a 3-1 League One win at Oldham in March 2015.
It’s the first Championship brace by a Reds defender since Darren Barnard bagged both goals in a 2-0 win at West Brom in January 2000.
Helik is actually the first Barnsley player to score a brace since Cauley Woodrow at Fulham in February.
A Barnsley defender has scored a stoppage time goal on successive Boxing Days, with Aapo Halme grabbing a 90th minute leveller against West Brom 12 months ago.
Barnsley are now unbeaten on Boxing Day for six years (five matches in total as they did not play on Boxing Day 2015), last losing this festive fixture at Preston in 2014, 1-0.
A Barnsley match was level at half time for the first time in six outings (since Birmingham) with this the first Barnsley match level at the break where both teams had scored since Millwall in October, 14 matches ago.
Helik’s equaliser came without a direct assist from a team-mate, the eighth such goal in all competitions this season, excluding penalties.
His winner was assisted by Mads Andersen, the first time one defender has assisted another since Ethan Pinnock headed in a Zeki Fryers corner at Sunderland on New Year’s Day 2018.
Helik’s winner after 90+4 is Barnsley’s third 90+ goal of the season and the second latest following Cauley Woodrow’s penalty against Bristol City (90+12)
Barnsley’s last five victories have all been achieved with both teams scoring, the first time this has happened since March 2014 – August 2014 (3-1 v Reading, 4-1 v Yeovil, 2-1 v Charlton (Championship), 2-1 v Crewe, 4-1 v Gillingham (League One))
Each of Barnsley’s last EIGHT league victories when conceding have all finished 2-1.
Huddersfield’s goal came from their only shot on target, the third time Barnsley have conceded in this manner this season (also v Luton and Birmingham)
This was Barnsley’s second Yorkshire derby win of the season following victory at Hillsborough, they won three last season (1 v Huddersfield, 2 v Hull)
Barnsley have gone 14 league games without a draw (all under Ismael) (W9 L5) - prior to this they had drawn four out of five.
It is their longest run without a stalemate since a run of 17 between November 2014 and March 2015 (W10 L7)
Barnsley have now gone nine games without a clean sheet, their longest run in all competitions since a run of nine between 2nd January 2020 – 11th February 2020.
Barnsley have won back to back games against Huddersfield for the first time since 2004-2005.
They are now unbeaten in four Oakwell meetings, winning three, all 2-1.
Barnsley Team:
1 Jack Walton
26. Michael Sollbauer
30. Michal Helik
6. Mads Andersen
7. Callum Brittain
32. Matty James
4. Callum Styles
27. Alex Mowatt
28. Dominik Frieser
9. Cauley Woodrow
11. Conor Chaplin
Substitutes:
29. Victor Adeboyejo (for Frieser 60)
8. Herbie Kane (for James 74)
16. Luke Thomas (for Chaplin 74)
25. George Miller (for Woodrow 87)
21. Romal Palmer (for Mowatt 87)
Unused Substitutes:
40. Brad Collins, 34. Jasper Moon, 22. Clarke Oduor, 19. Patrick Schmidt.
Huddersfield Team:
31. Ryan Schofield
3. Harry Toffolo
23. Naby Sarr
35. Rarmani Edmonds-Green
2. Pipa
8. Lewis O’Brien
6. Jonathan Hogg
14. Carel Eiting
7. Juninho Bacuna
22. Fraizer Campbell
18. Isaac Mbenza
Substitutions:
10. Alex Pritchard (for Eiting 71)
11. Adama Diakhaby (for Mbenza 81)
Unused Substitutes:
28. Jaden Brown, 27. Romoney Crichlow-Noble, 17. Demeaco Duhaney, 1. Ben Hamer, 29. Aaron Rowe, 5. Alex Vallejo.
Huddersfield manager Carlos Coberan said:
Sky Bet Championship results
SATURDAY 26TH DECEMBER 2020
BARNSLEY (10th) 2-1 Huddersfield Town (14th)
Edmonds-Green 13
Helik 21
Helik 90+4
Blackburn Rovers (11th) 1-1 Sheffield Wednesday (23rd)
Reach 41
Rothwell 76
Bristol City (9th) 2-1 Wycombe Wanderers (24th)
Martin 23
McCleary 68
Diedhiou 87
Cardiff City (12th) 2-3 Brentford (4th)
Vaulks 45+4
Canos 50
Canos 65
Canos 73
Vaulks 76
Coventry City (18th) 0-0 Stoke City (7th)
Derby County (22nd) 0-1 Preston North End (13th)
Browne 90+6
Nottingham Forest (20th) 0-0 Birmingham City (17th)
Queens Park Rangers (19th) 0-2 Swansea City (2nd)
Ayew 44
Lowe 54
Reading (6th) 2-1 Luton Town (15th)
McIntyre 9
Semedo 41
LuaLua 90
Watford (5th) 1-0 Norwich City (1st)
Sarr 39
Barnsley lie in 10th place in the Sky Bet Championship with 31 points from 21 games. We are 5 points off the Play-Offs, 8 points off the Automatic Promotion Places, 12 points off First Place and 15 points above the Relegation Zone.
Up to 26/12/20
Next Up:
On The Road:
Sky Bet Championship Matchday Twenty Two: Rotherham United v Barnsley, Tuesday 29th December 2020. Kick-Off: 7:45pm
At Oakwell:
FA Cup Third Round: Barnsley v Tranmere Rovers, Sunday 10th January 2021. Kick-Off: 1:30pm