The honeymoon period may be over but Hugo Colace’s fourth goal of the season got the marriage off to a flying start to end a 15 year hoodoo against Leicester City.
After new boss Mark Robins followed up an eight match unbeaten streak with three straight defeats- the second time that has happened during his tenure- many Barnsley supporters felt the feel-good factor generated by his arrival had ended and now we would see if he really was any better than Simon Davey. The early signs seem promising.
Like any marriage there are some faults that still need ironing out – the ability to play for 90 minutes rather than just 45, and not dropping your best players are two that come to mind. For the derby defeat to Sheffield Wednesday last weekend- something that will always be classed as the first act of adultery- Brazilian Anderson De Silva was dropped, allegedly after a bust up with Robins. He was restored last night, and was, along with Iain Hume, Barnsley’s best performer in a wretched first half, but it came, rather bafflingly, in place of Emil Hallfredsson, who as well as grabbing the Reds only goal against the Owls , was the only player in that mess of a match who looked like he knew what he was doing. Daniel Bogdanovic, guilty of missing two one on ones last weekend, was mysteriously omitted from the matchday squad despite being the Reds top scorer and having started the previous 12 matches. This further fuelled the rumours that Bogdanovic could be about to join former team-mate Heinz Muller in Germany before the end of the month, and was made even more surprising due to the fact that the Maltese striker had been in every Mark Robins squad apart from the first four which he missed due to injury and Jon Macken and Hume had not started a game together since the 1-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest back in October.
And whilst Macken looked a striker on his last legs, Hume was in outstanding form. Against his former side, he looked like the striker Barnsley had paid Leicester £1.2m for in the summer of 2008 as he was at the hub of everything. He was even given a generous reception from the 1,000 plus Foxes fans who has made the journey from the East Midlands- not surprising really considering in the three years he was at the Walkers Stadium he plundered an impressive 34 goals in 111 starts, they received over £1m for him when he left, and his replacement Matty Fryatt bagged an incredible 32 goals last season to lead Leicester straight back to the Championship!
Indeed the 26 year old Canadian Hume was the only highlight of a devastatingly boring first half where neither side created a chance of note. Despite the Foxes being in eighth position prior to the game and The Reds on a run of just four defeats in their last 15 league games, it was evident in those opening 45 minutes that Barnsley had lost every game in 2010 and that Leicester hadn’t won away since October.
The Foxes were the brighter side in the first half however and were much quicker to the ball than their opponents- The Reds were far too defensive, with neither Hugo Colace nor Nathan Doyle venturing forward and most of Barnsley’s attacking play came from Carl Dickinson or Ryan Shotton launching long balls in the direction of Hume and Macken. To Hume’s massive credit he won his fair share of aerial duels with Foxes centre back Wayne Brown, but Macken’s movement was poor all night and any prospective move petered out.
As an attacking force Leicester were not much better and the mood of the first half was summed up by both sides best “chances”. Leicester’s came after 32 minutes when Dany N’Guessan produced a measured finish, but from an offside position whilst The Reds’ wasn’t even produced by one of their own players! Four minutes before the break, Brown produced a heavy back pass that went past keeper Chris Weale, but there was never any hope of it going between the posts.
Whatever Robins said at the break though clearly worked as Hyde replaced Jekyll and Barnsley absolutely tore into Leicester.
Hume’s corners were right out of the top drawer, with every one of them causing problems, and they nearly scored from one on 54 minutes. Before that, Adam Hammill- anonymous in the first half, but unstoppable in the second- hit a great dipping effort from 35 yards which Weale tipped over the bar, and from Hume’s delivery, Shotton bulleted in a header that 40 year old Chris Powell- making his first appearance of the season- headed off the line. The ball looped to Stephen Foster who headed it back towards goal, but Powell belied his years by heading it off the line again!
This surge saw the crowd get involved and the atmosphere became electric. The higher the volume, the more the chances arrived. Hume slipped in Hammill who produced a lovely nutmeg on Michael Morrison before seeing his effort blocked by the legs of Weale, before Hume slalomed beautifully in-between Powell and Jack Hobbs but poked his effort inches wide. Shotton curled a lovely effort across the face of goal from 25 yards before Anderson cut inside the Leicester area and saw his shot blocked. Just when it looked like the goal would never come it arrived, with 13 minutes remaining.
Another fantastic corner from Hume was met by Shotton, who was again denied on the line but this time Colace was following up to smash the rebound home!
The goal woke up Nigel Pearson’s side- who before this looked to have been happy to settle for a point and they introduced strikers Steve Howard and Matty Fryatt to try and turn the tide. It was The Reds though who came closest to finishing the game when Anderson’s searing effort from 25 yards was parried by Weale and substitute Andy Gray was just unable to knock in the rebound.
Steele managed to thwart Howard in injury time but The Reds comfortably held on for a vital three points and only their third clean sheet under Robins. The honeymoon may be over, but on this display, Barnsley are settling quite comfortably into married life with Mr Robins.
Player Ratings:
Luke Steele: Has developed a fear of coming off his line in the last two games but was rarely called into action last night. Made one brave block on Howard right at the death. 7
Carl Dickinson: Again showed the heart of a home-grown player, not one only on loan. Produced some crunching tackles in the first half and linked up superbly with Hammill after the break. 7
Stephen Foster: Desperately unlucky not to get on the score-sheet and handled everything Leicester could throw. 7
Ryan Shotton: Played at centre back and right back last night and was very good in both positions. Strong in the air and his decision making is top class. 7
Rob Kozluk: Was actually having a good game before a knee injury ended his night after just 17 minutes. Subbed. 6
Adam Hammill: Just when you think his form of last season was a myth he proves he does still have it in his locker. He absolutely terrorised the Leicester defence in the second half and could have had a hat-trick! That’s why he was brought back to the club, and needs to repeat this performance. 8
Nathan Doyle: One player who perfectly reflects the saying “football is a game of two halves” First half he was his usual floundering self, but in the second half he stopped running around like his backside was on fire and got a grip on the game. He was first to every ball, snapped into tackles, surged forward. THIS is the dynamic player Robins claims Doyle is and finally for 45 minutes he showed it. The task is now to produce this week after week. Along with Hammill and Hume he was brilliant. 8
Hugo Colace: Looks as comfortable tackling a player as a fish does sitting on dry land but whilst he keeps up with his knack of scoring important goals Ill quietly reserve judgement. 7
Anderson De Silva: Along with Hume, was the only player with any confidence to attack in the first half. Was wonderful on the ball. Overshadowed by Hammill in the second half but still twice went very close to scoring. 7
Jon Macken: Jon, you’ve had a good two years at the club, and scored some vital goals, but your time may now be up. Didn’t have nearly the same energy as Hume, and stands complaining about decisions that happened 10 minutes ago. If, as has been alleged, he stormed down the tunnel after being subbed (something I cannot confirm) then his days may well be numbered. Subbed. 3
Iain Hume: On rare occasions, you witness a performance from a certain player that makes you just want to stand and applaud for half an hour. That was Hume last night. He was unstoppable. Whether it was because he was playing against his former club, or because he’s finally getting back to full fitness or even because he was keen to impress on his first start for three months. It may even have been a combination of all three, but his former team-mates couldn’t handle him. He was not just competing for aerial balls with Wayne Brown, who at 6ft was five inches taller than Hume, but was WINNING them! His set-pieces caused endless chaos and eventually led to the goal and he was a hive of activity all night. Top drawer! 10 (and that rating is only because the ratings are out of 10, his performance merits higher)
Substitutes:
Darren Moore (for Kozluk 17) Thrust into the action early doors and was commanding. His best performance post Newcastle. 7
Andy Gray (for Macken 76) It was just a relief to see him come on as the Oakwell faithful had been crying out for the change for the previous 20 minutes! May have been a coincidence that The Reds scored the second he came on but he had far more impact than Macken. 6
Unused Substitutes:
David Preece, Luke Potter, Jacob Butterfield, Emil Hallfredsson, Jamil Adam.
Sponsor’s Man of the Match: Iain Hume
BarnsleyBoy's Man of the Match: Iain Hume: No complaints with the sponsors this week, Hume produced the game of his life! Hammill, Doyle and Anderson were also brilliant in the second half.
LEICESTER CITY: Weale, Morrison, Brown, Oakley, N'Guessan (King 73), Waghorn (Fryatt 66), Wellens, Kermorgant (Howard 66), Gallagher, Hobbs, Powell.
Subs: Neilson, McGivern, Dyer, Logan.
Most Impressed by Leicester’s: Chris Weale: For a side with play-off ambitions it was a pretty poor showing. The score-line would have been higher but for their keeper Weale.
Ref Watch: David Webb: Didn’t have a clue what was going on most of the time and gave a Graham Poll-esque performance where he seemed to think the game was about him. 3
Coca Cola Championship Results Tuesday 26th January 2010:
BARNSLEY 1-0 Leicester
Bristol City 0-6 Cardiff
Doncaster 1-4 Middlesbrough
Ipswich 1-1 West Brom
Nottingham Forest 5-0 QPR
Peterborough 0-1 Preston
Plymouth 1-0 Derby
Sheffield United 3-0 Reading
Swansea 0-0 Coventry
Barnsley lie in 14th *place in the Coca-Cola Championship with 33 points from 25 games.
We are 8 points off the Play-Offs, 19 points off the Automatic Promotion Places, 19
points First place and 9 points above the Relegation Zone.
* Crystal Palace’s 10 points deduction for going into administration not factored in yet, Barnsley will be 13th then,
Up to 27/1/10 (afternoon)
Next Up:
On The Road:
Coca-Cola Championship Matchday Twenty Six: Reading v Barnsley Saturday 30th January 2010 Kick-Off 3pm
Tickets:
ADULTS - £22.50
SENIOR CITIZENS (OVER 65) - £16.50
YOUNG ADULT (UNDER 21) - £16.50
JUVENILES (16 AND UNDER) - £11.50
Coca-Cola Championship Matchday Twenty Seven: Preston North End v Barnsley Tuesday 2nd February 2010 Kick-Off 7:45pm (PAY ON THE GATE ONLY)
Tickets:
Adults - £20.00
Senior Citizens (Over 60) - £12.00
Young Adults (Under 21) - £12.00
Juvenile (Under 16) - £5.00
At Oakwell:
Coca-Cola Championship Matchday Twenty Eight: Barnsley v Watford Saturday 6th February 2010 Kick-Off: 3pm
East Stand and West Stand Upper Tiers
Adults £22.00
OAP/Juvenile £12.00
Juveniles (U12) £6.00
Family Area
Adults £22.00
OAP £13.00
Juvenile £13.00
Juveniles (U12) £7.00
East Stand Lower and West Stand Lower
Adults £21.00
OAP/Juveniles £12.00
Juveniles (U12) £6.00
CK Beckett Stand (Pontefract Road End)
Adults £20.00
OAP/Juveniles £12.00
Juveniles (U12) £6.00
All Disabled Areas £20.00
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.