Barnsley secured their biggest victory for five years as they scored four on the road for the first time since October 2018 as they won for the third time in a row and fifth time in six outings (D1)
It is the first time they have scored as many as four goals in a league game at all since 14th December 2019 when they defeated QPR 5-3 but their biggest margin of victory since a 4-0 win at Peterborough on the 6th October 2018.
The Reds opened the scoring after just eight minutes - the third game in a row in which they have scored in the opening ten minutes of a game.
They have now scored inside the first ten minutes on seven occasions in the league in 2022-2023, the most in a season since 2009-2010 when they also did it on seven occasions.
Remarkably three of those seven goals have arrived at the eighth minute mark and two have been scored by James Norwood.
Barnsley were 2-0 up after 15 minutes, the first time they have led by two goals away from home this early since 29th December 2020 when they also scored after eight and 15 minutes at Rotherham.
It was 3-0 after 36 minutes, the first time Barnsley have scored three first half league goals away from home since the 22nd April 2019 at Plymouth and this is also the last time they led 3-0 at half time away from home.
Barnsley have scored at least three goals in successive away games for the first time since March 2021 when they did it in three successive away games, winning 3-1 at QPR, 3-2 at Bournemouth and 3-1 at Wycombe – a run which equalled a club record.
In total they have scored at least three times on the road on four occasions in 2022-2023, their most in a season since 2018-2019 (eight times)
Barnsley have scored three first half goals on two occasions in the league this season (v Accrington and Cheltenham) the first time this has occurred since 2005-2006 when they did so against Oldham and Scunthorpe.
This victory was the third separate time this season Barnsley have won three league games on the bounce, a feat last achieved in 2018-2019 (five occasions)
This was Barnsley’s 11th league clean sheet of the season, their most in a campaign since 2020-2021 (14)
Barnsley have now reached the 30 game mark this season, and have accumulated 56 points, three less than they had at this stage in their last League One campaign of 2018-2019.
There were no yellow cards shown in a Barnsley match for the first time in 25 outings (all comps), last occurring against Charlton in September and these are the only two games it has happened in this season.
Remarkably Barnsley’s last four matches have seen then score once, twice, three times and four times (1-1, 2-0, 3-1, 4-0)
Herbie Kane and Adam Phillips both scored and assisted in this match, the first time two Barnsley players have done this since a 3-1 win over MK Dons in November (Kane and Jordan Williams)
This was Kane’s fifth assist of the season, the joint most at the club this season along with Williams and Luca Connell.
Williams scored his fifth goal of the season and all five have come in victories.
This was Barnsley’s third league double of the season (along with Fleetwood and Cambridge) it is the first time since 2018-2019 that they have registered two league doubles without conceding a goal against those two opponents doing so to four teams (Bradford, Peterborough, Southend, Accrington)
This was Barnsley’s eighth away league win of the season, the joint most in the division along with Sheffield Wednesday.
It is their 11th away victory in all competitions, now only one less than they won in their last League One season of 2018-2019.
This was only Barnsley’s second ever visit to Cheltenham and they maintained their 100% record there having won 3-1 there on the exact same date (18th February) back in 2003.
Overall the two sides have met four times and Barnsley have won three with one draw.
Barnsley enjoyed more than 50% ball possession (51%) for the first time in five matches.
Barnsley Team:
1. Harry Isted
2. Jordan Williams
12. Bobby Thomas
6. Mads Andersen (c)
5. Liam Kitching
26. Ziyad Larkeche
8. Herbie Kane
48. Luca Connell
30. Adam Phillips
9. James Norwood
44. Devante Cole
Substitutes:
31. Slobodan Tedic (for Cole 58)
23. Oli Shaw (for Norwood 67)
16. Luke Thomas (for Phillips 77
17. Barry Cotter (for Williams 77)
Unused Substitutes:
14. Josh Martin, 20. Jamie Searle, 3. Jon Russell.
Cheltenham Team:
1. Luke Southwood
2. Sean Long (c)
14. Caleb Taylor
17. Elkan Baggott
22. Ryan Jackson
28. Taylor Perry
23. Elliott Bonds
8. Liam Sercombe
32. Ryan Broom
10. Alfie May
7. Charlie Brown
Substitutions:
15. Will Ferry (for Sercombe 61)
27. Aidan Keena (for Brown 61)
5. Charlie Raglan (for Baggott 72)
26. Dylan Barkers (for Bonds 72)
36. James Olayinka (for Jackson 72)
Unused Substitutes:
20. Shaun MacDonald, 30. Christian Norton.
Cheltenham manager Wade Elliott said:
Very disappointing. We were beaten by the better team.
They have good players working hard. We struggled down the hill against the wind, in the first 10 or 15 minutes, we struggled to deal with the intensity and the physicality. They bang in a couple of 'worldies' and it's a very difficult way back from there.
They were the better team. Once they get their noses in front and then score a couple of good goals after that, they are obviously on a massive high and they have control of the game and we found it difficult from there and they ended up on top.
Match Reports:
BBC
Sky Bet League One Results:
Saturday 18th February 2023:
Accrington Stanley (20th) 1-0 Shrewsbury Town (8th)
Pressley 12
Bristol Rovers (15th) 1-2 Burton Albion (18th)
Marquis 9
Kirk 44
Winnall 55
Cambridge United (22nd) 1-0 Oxford United (17th)
Jones 8
Cheltenham Town (19th) 0-4 BARNSLEY (6th)
Norwood 8
Kane 15
Phillips 36
Williams 74
Derby County (5th) 2-0 Charlton Athletic (11th)
McGoldrick pen 9
Cashin 69
Ipswich Town (3rd) 4-0 Forest Green Rovers (24th)
Chaplin 3
Broadhead 41
Chaplin 60
Ladapo 79
Lincoln City (14th) 0-0 Portsmouth (10th)
Morecambe (23rd) 0-3 Peterborough United (9th)
Taylor 12
Ward 22
Poku 29
Plymouth Argyle (2nd) 0-0 Fleetwood Town (16th)
Port Vale (12th) 1-0 Exeter City (13th)
Forrester 60
Sheffield Wednesday (1st) 5-2 Milton Keynes Dons (21st)
Leko 2
Windass 9
Eisa 24
Smith pen 54
Gregory 64
Smith 74
Byers 89
Wycombe Wanderers (4th) 1-0 Bolton Wanderers (7th)
Wing 45+8
Barnsley lie in 6th place in Sky Bet League One with 56 points from 30 games. We are 3 points inside the Play-Offs, 12 points off the Automatic Promotion Places, 12 points off First Place and 27 points above the Relegation Zone.
Up to 19/2/23
Next Up:
At Oakwell:
Sky Bet League One Matchday Thirty One: Barnsley v Derby County, Saturday 25th February 2023. Kick Off: 3pm
On The Road:
Sky Bet League One Matchday Thirty Two: Bristol Rovers v Barnsley, Saturday 4th March 2023 Kick Off: 3pm