What a difference a week makes in football. Seven days ago, despair and frustration hung over Oakwell after Barnsley saw their 4-1 lead at Plymouth wiped out by the rain, but thanks to an amazing smash and grab in the final five minutes at an, inevitably, rainy Bloomfield Road, the mood has changed to delight and euphoria as The Reds bagged their third win in four games and ended Blackpool’s unbeaten home record in the process.
In truth Blackpool should have been out of sight by half time, as they totally destroyed a Barnsley midfield that had Bobby Hassell- making his first start since September, and Hugo Colace- who was so pathetically bad he doesn’t deserve his wage.
It was probably inevitable that Charlie Adam would run the show after The Reds lost a tug of war with Blackpool for him in the summer, and especially in the first half, his team-mates were playing everything through him. From the first 45 minutes it was clear why Ian Holloway’s side had turned from relegation candidates to promotion challengers, but also why they have such a strong home record and poor away record.
Right from the off the Seasiders threw bodies forward and it has to be said The Reds defence was absolutely magnificent with Ryan Shotton and Stephen Foster, rock solid. Rob Kozluk suffered a torrid time in the first period from Hameur Bouazza and it was a surprise when the Algerian international was moved to the right wing. Bouazza failed to get a kick out of Carl Dickinson, whilst Kozluk faired much better against the diminutive Barry Bannan, although he did beat him in the lead up to Blackpool’s controversial penalty.
The Reds simply failed to get out of the blocks in the first half and Blackpool could have run up a cricket score. Bouazza, Jason Euell and Alex Baptise had all sent good chances wide before Luke Steele was called into action to make a fine stop, low down to turn away a fierce drive from Euell, before again getting down to deny Billy Clarke.
A lot of this pressure came from Barnsley’s own doing, with the midfield a total shambles. Hassell, clearly not fully fit was struggling, although giving his all, but Colace continued his wretched form this season. He gave the ball away countless times, failed to put in any sort of challenge and really infuriated the 1,200 travelling supporters when the ball landed at the edge of the Blackpool area in the first half and he made no attempt whatsoever to get to it. Adam Hammill and Emil Hallfredsson also had anonymous games on the wing with Hammill failing to beat his man all game.
The Reds had one great chance in the first half and it arrived after 22 minutes. Luke Steele made a fantastic challenge on Clarke, but whilst the Blackpool players appealed in vain for a penalty, The Reds broke with Hallfredsson who played Daniel Bogdanovic in the clear, but his first touch was poor and Pool keeper Matt Gilks came flying out to bock the Maltese international.
The second half was better, marginally, with the amount of chances Blackpool created reducing significantly, and Barnsley began to threaten more.
Hammill’s corner just didn’t drop right for Colace, but Steele was at his best moments later to deny first Adam and then Bouazza.
Blackpool finally grabbed the lead after 72 minutes but it was not from their great attacking play but from another terrible refereeing decision. Bannan swung in a cross that was headed down and then chested by Ryan Shotton. Incredibly referee Lee Mason pointed straight to the spot!
Who else, but Adam stepped up to take it and he just sneaked it into Steele’s left hand corner with the keeper inches away from getting his hand to it. It now means (taking away the Plymouth game) the only goals Barnsley have conceded in the past four games have been from the spot.
With no scoreboard at Bloomfield Road it was very difficult to know how long of the game was left so when Barnsley did make their stunning late fight back, I, personally didn’t realise it was in the final five minutes!
In the 85th minute, Hammill finally gave up his corner duties to substitute Iain Hume, with instant rewards. Hume swung over a right wing set-piece which Hassell and David Vaughan both attacked, with the ball flying in off the Blackpool man. Three minutes later the incredible turnaround was complete.
Shotton arrowed in a long throw and Baptiste inexplicably threw his hand in the air and the referee pointed straight to the spot. It needed a cool head to take the penalty and Andy Gray certainly provided it. Sending Gilks the wrong way with a cracking effort into the top corner.
There was still time for Adam to barge his way through the Barnsley defence and fire over, but, despite probably feeling he made the right decision in the summer considering the two sides league positions, he ended up on the losing side yesterday.
The result took Barnsley to within five points of the play-off places, but as we all know that margin should be a mere two.
Player Ratings:
Luke Steele: Was the star of the show, especially in the first half. Produced a number of top saves. 8
Carl Dickinson: Another very solid display and totally took Bouazza out of the game after he had run the first half. 8
Stephen Foster: Won everything in the air and flew into some full-blooded challenges. 8
Ryan Shotton: Still amazes me how he comes out with the ball in certain situations. He was simply brilliant in the first half when Blackpool were rampant. 9
Rob Kozluk: Suffered a torrid time from Bouazza in the first half so would have been mightily relieved when he swapped wings after the break. 6
Adam Hammill: Totally out of the game against his former club. His corners were poor too. 5
Hugo Colace: Disgusting performance quite frankly. Didn’t tackle, challenge, or do anything but run around like a headless chicken. Should forfeit his wage this week! 0
Bobby Hassell: Clearly lacked match fitness and struggled in the first half. Was better after the break however and forced Vaughan into an own goal for the equaliser. 6.5
Emil Hallfredsson: Apart from one surging run in the first half when he put a great chance on a plate for Bogdanovic, he did very little. The wing doesn’t seem to be his natural position though. 5
Jon Macken: Worked his socks off but seemed to get frustrated far too easily. Was booked and probably taken off to save him getting a red card. 6
Daniel Bogdanovic: Spurned one great chance in the first half but that was about it. He actually looked more likely to create than finish. 6
Substitutes:
Iain Hume (for Bogdanovic 70) Will be happy with his contribution. Swung in the corner for the equaliser and then put Baptiste under pressure for the handball which led to the winner. 7
Andy Gray (for Macken 70) Showed nerves of steel to send home the 88th minute penalty. Was a cracking finish. 7
Jamal Campbell-Ryce (for Hallfredsson 80) To be honest looked more interested in the 10 minutes he was on the pitch yesterday than he has in the other 845 minutes he’s played this season. Looked lively on the ball. 7
Unused Substitutes:
David Preece, Darren Moore, Luke Potter, Jacob Butterfield.
BarnsleyBoy's Men of the Match: Ryan Shotton and Luke Steele: Provided a superb defensive platform that enabled the team to pounce at the death.
BLACKPOOL: Gilks, Crainey, Southern, Eardley, Clarke (Bannan 43), Burgess (Euell 3), Vaughan, Baptiste, Bouazza (Taylor-Fletcher 88), Edwards, Adam.
Subs: Rachubka, Evatt, Ormerod, Bangura.
Most Impressed by Blackpool's: Charlie Adam: The six goals he had struck already this season showed that Barnsley might have been rueing former manager Simon Davey’s decision not shell out £500,000 for him in the summer.. he proved it first hand yesterday as he ran the show in the first half.
Ref Watch: Lee Mason: Got the Shotton handball badly wrong but apart from that, a good display. 7
Coca Cola Championship Results Saturday 5th December 2009
Blackpool 1-2 BARNSLEY
Bristol City 0-0 Ipswich
Cardiff 1-0 Preston
Crystal Palace 0-3 Doncaster
Derby 2-2 West Brom
Newcastle 2-0 Watford
Nottingham Forest 5-1 Leicester
Peterborough 2-2 Swansea
Plymouth 0-1 Sheffield United
QPR 1-5 Middlesbrough
Sheffield Wednesday 0-2 Reading
Sunday 6th December 2009
Scunthorpe 1-0 Coventry
Barnsley lie in 15th place in the Coca-Cola Championship with 24 points from 18 games.
We are 5 points off the Play-Offs, 14 points off the Automatic Promotion Places, 18
points off First place and 7 points above the Relegation Zone.
Up to 6/12/09
Next Up:
At Oakwell:
Coca-Cola Championship Matchday Nineteen: Barnsley v Scunthorpe United Wednesday 9th December 2009 Kick-Off 7:45pm.
Coca-Cola Championship Matchday Twenty: Barnsley v Newcastle United Saturday 12th December 2009 Kick-Off 3pm.
East Stand and West Stand Upper Tiers
Adults £21.00
OAP/Juvenile £12.00
Juveniles (U12) £6.00
Family Area
Adults £21.00
OAP £12.00
Juvenile £12.00
Juveniles (U12) £6.00
East Stand Lower and West Stand Lower
Adults £20.00
OAP/Juveniles £11.00
Juveniles (U12) £5.00
CK Beckett Stand (Pontefract Road End)
Adults £19.00
OAP/Juveniles £11.00
Juveniles (U12) £5.00
All Disabled Areas £19.00
Helpers FREE OF CHARGE
Please note that Juvenile U12 tickets must be purchased in advance from the Oakwell Box Office and this price will not be on sale on the turnstiles under any circumstances.
On The Road:
Coca-Cola Championship Matchday Twenty One Crystal Palace v Barnsley Saturday 19th December 2009 Kick-Off 3pm
Tickets:
ADULTS - £24.50
SENIOR CITIZENS (OVER 60) - £14.50
FULL TIME STUDENT (UNDER 24) - £14.50
JUVENILES (UNDER 16) - £14.50