You kind of knew it would happen didn’t you. After the amazing highs of thumping Leeds 5-2 on Tuesday night, coupled with the fact that their draw with Doncaster Rovers on Friday meant victory for The Reds against the Rams would propel them to the status of highest placed Yorkshire team, and the top six of the Championship for the first time in three years, it was rather obvious that Barnsley would stumble at the final hurdle.
Great credit must be given to Nigel Clough’s travelling side as their performance belied their poor start to the season, and Reds boss Mark Robins was slightly biased in his verdict that Derby played for a point.
In the first half they showed more adventure than the Reds and in tricky Spaniard Alberto Bueno had a player capable of producing something out of nothing. Barnsley had their own such specimen in Adam Hammill, but despite scoring a fantastic equaliser at the start of the second half, he failed to live up to the superb heights of four days earlier.
Like against Leeds it took falling behind for The Reds to pick up their game, but the Derby opener after 15 minutes should never have come about. Goal-keeper Luke Steele has come in for some heavy criticism this season after a handful of mistakes and he made, to my count, mistake number five and six of the season to gift The Rams their goal.
Bobby Hassell managed to smack the ball against his own face in attempting an overhead clearance, but the ball appeared to be trickling nicely back to Steele at a pace even a snail would have frowned upon. Somehow though, Steele managed to put his foot over the ball and it rolled out for a corner. Ben Pringle swung the set-piece in, it bounced off the head of Andy Gray; Steele came flying out and flapped, leaving Bueno to flick it on for Dean Leacock to notch his first ever senior goal in his 137th appearance.
The goal woke The Reds up to some extent but the jury remains firmly out on winger Jim O’Brien. Most of the play went, surprisingly down his flank, but time again he was dispossessed and when he did wriggle clear of his marker, his crosses struggled to beat the first man.
Therefore it was once again left to Hammill to try and turn the game and he brought a fine save from Stephen Bywater just after the half hour mark before somehow Diego Arismendi was denied his second goal in a week. Jay McEveley swung a corner in to the far post and the Uruguayan loanee produced a wonderful scissors kick that was blocked on the line by Bywater before Garry O’Connor’s follow-up was somehow stopped by Paul Green.
Right on half-time, Gray then showed why, despite a decent start to the 2010-2011 season, he has managed only eight goals in 27 Barnsley starts. A great through ball from Hammill sent him in on goal but he produced a woeful first touch and the ball rolled harmlessly through to Bywater. The half time whistle signalled a flat response from the Oakwell faithful, which it has to be said was considerably smaller than Tuesday night, with the feeling that once again their side was about to squander another golden opportunity to make a decent stride up the table.
That feeling was banished however two minutes after the break. O’Connor sprayed a ball from right to left that John Brayford swung a leg at and missed, leaving Hammill to race through into the gap and produce a sumptuous left footed finish past Bywater and into the top corner. That brought relief and belief back into the crowd but surprisingly it didn’t to the players.
After Tuesday night you would have thought that after coming from behind to hit five, fighting back from a goal down here would have the same effect. Instead the game became ragged, The Reds midfield disappeared and Derby had the better chances. They should have regained their lead after 63 minutes thanks to another moment of madness from Steele. Dean Moxey swung in a corner that was dropping perfectly into the arms of the goalkeeper. Incredibly though Steele fumbled the ball, and it trickled across the goal-line, before hitting the inside of the post. McEveley, probably caught by surprise, hacked his clearance straight to Pringle, but the left back recovered superbly to block the rebound. It was another howler from Steele, which could push Robins to look for a keeper in the loan market as his only back up is David Preece who has conceded 17 goals in his seven appearances.
Barnsley finally attacked in the final stages but O’Connor was twice denied by Bywater and as the final whistle blew the supporters left Oakwell with an all too familiar feeling of what might have been.
Player Ratings:
Luke Steele – Must really be looking over his shoulder after a very poor start to the season. Two mistakes led to Derby’s goal and he will be thanking his lucky stars that another in the second half hit the post rather than going in. 3
Bobby Hassell – Totally nullified Kris Commons and got forward whenever the Reds broke. 7.5
Stephen Foster –Stood up to the physical test of Shefki Kuqi and was untroubled for most of the game. 7
Jason Shackell – I’ve said it before but he has the potential to be the best centre half we have had since the days of De Zueew and Moses. Commanding and NEVER beaten in the air. 7
Jay McEveley – Has formed a potent partnership with Hammill and his delivery from corners is also very good. Lifted a superb set-piece to Arismendi which should have brought a goal. 7.5
Jim O’Brien – The jury is still out on a man who was named in the Scottish Premier League Team of the Year in 2009-2010. Doesn’t deal with muscular challenges and his crossing was poor. 5
Jacob Butterfield – Again showed how bad Doyle and Colace are. Comfortable on the ball and broke up some threatening challenges. Went too deep in the second half though. 7.5
Diego Arismendi – So unlucky not to notch his second Barnsley goal and when on the ball he oozes quality. Another who dropped too deep though in the second half. 7.5
Adam Hammill – Was always going to be impossible to hit the heights he did on Tuesday night but was still Barnsley’s best hope of creating a goal, as was proved when he scored a fantastic equaliser. Tried his best to find a winner but wasn’t afforded the space he was against Leeds. 7.5
Garry O’Connor – He is starting to show Gray up with his movement, control and hold up play. Unlucky not to score when Arismendi’s effort came back to him and always looked a threat when on the ball. 7
Andy Gray – A woeful touch when clean through probably summed him up. Robins needs another striker to complement O’Connor. 5
Substitutions:
Kieran Trippier (for O’Brien 75) A player very unlucky not to be in the starting line-up. Didn’t really get the chance to impress in the 15 minutes he was on the pitch. 6
Liam Dickinson (for Gray 80) Is looking like Odejayi x2. His first touch is appalling and if this is our best reserve striker we are in trouble. 3
Nathan Doyle (for Butterfield 85) If he is restricted to five minute cameos we have a chance of being successful! N/A
Unused: David Preece, Jeronimo Neumann, Goran Lovre, Martin Devaney.
Sponsor's Man of the Match: Jacob Butterfield
BarnsleyBoy's Men of the Match: Jay McEveley/Jacob Butterfield: McEveley was always a threat with his corners and when linking up with Hammill whilst Butterfield patrolled the midfield.
DERBY COUNTY: Bywater, Brayford, Green, Barker, Leacock, Kuqi (O'Brien 90), Commons (Cwyka 71), Bailey, Pringle, Moxey, Bueno (Pearson 64).
Subs: Savage, Deeney, Martin, Doyle.
Most Impressed by Derby’s: Alberto Bueno: Always a threat on the wing and looks a quality player- like most Spaniards!
Ref Watch: David Webb: Easy game for him with hardly any crucial decisions to make. 7
Npower Championship results Saturday 18th September 2010:
BARNSLEY 1-1 Derby
Bristol City 1-2 Coventry
Crystal Palace 0-0 Burnley
Hull 0-0 Nottingham Forest
Ipswich 2-0 Cardiff
Leicester 0-2 QPR
Middlesbrough 3-1 Reading
Millwall 1-6 Watford
Preston 0-1 Norwich
Sheffield United 1-0 Portsmouth
Swansea 2-0 Scunthorpe
Barnsley lie in 10th place in the Npower Championship with 11 points from 7 games.
We are 1 point off the Play-Offs, 3 points off the Automatic Promotion Places, 8
points off First place and 6 points above the Relegation Zone.
Up to 20.9.10.
Next Up:
On The Road:
Npower Championship Matchday Eight: Reading v Barnsley Saturday 25th September 2010 Kick Off 3pm.
Tickets:
Adults - £23.00
Senior Citizens (Over 65) - £17.00
Young Adult (Aged 17 - 21) - £17.00
Juveniles (16 and Under) - £10.00
Disabled Supporters - Contact the Box Office For More Information
Npower Championship Matchday Nine: Scunthorpe United v Barnsley Tuesday 28th September 2010 Kick-Off 7:45pm
Tickets:
Adults - £25.00
Senior Citizens - £18.00
Young Adult (Aged 16 - 20) - £18.00
Juveniles (Under 16) - £11.00
Disabled Supporters - Contact the Box Office For More Information
At Oakwell:
Npower Championship Matchday Ten: Barnsley v Cardiff City Saturday 2nd October 2010 Kick-Off 3pm
Tickets:
Adults - £22.00
Senior Citizens (Over 60) - £12.00
Juveniles (Under 18) - £12.00
Juveniles (Under 12) - £6.00