Barnsley picked up their fourth draw in seven league matches and their third 1-1 of the season.
They have now drawn the joint most in the division in 2021-2022 along with Millwall and Derby who have the exact same record as the Reds W1 D4 L2.
It is the second season in a row that Barnsley have drawn four of their first seven matches with the only exception from last season being that they have also won one of those seven this time around.
However only losing two of their first seven league games is Barnsley’s lowest tally at this stage of a second tier season since 2016-2017.
After falling behind Barnsley equalised with a stunning 30 yard freekick from captain Cauley Woodrow, the first direct freekick goal scored by Barnsley since Woodrow’s predecessor as skipper Alex Mowatt netted at QPR in March.
A super display by goalkeeper Brad Collins helped the Reds preserve a point, capped off by his second penalty save of the season, the first time a Reds stopper has saved two spotkicks in a season since Adam Davies in 2018-2019 (v Peterborough and Portsmouth)
In all competitions Barnsley have won only one of their first eight matches - their worst start since 2019-2020 when they won only one of the first 19.
Barnsley have failed to win any of their first four away league games now in each of their last four Championship seasons.
They are winless in seven away games (all comps) since a 1-0 win at Huddersfield on 21st April. It is their longest winless away run since failing to win any of their first seven games on the road in 2020-2021.
Barnsley have won only one of their last seven meetings with Stoke (W1 D4 L2)
Remarkably each of the past four stalemates have been 0-0, 1-1, 2-2 and 3-3.
They are winless in their last 10 visits to the Potteries.
Indeed they have won only one of their last 11 visits in all competitions.
Stoke’s Tommy Smith was red carded in this game, the second successive season a Stoke player has been sent off in this fixture.
Stoke won 12 corners in the game, the most by a Barnsley opponent since Brentford at Oakwell in November 2020 (also 12)
Barnsley had nine shots – their most in a game this season, with their four on target their joint most.
Barnsley Team:
40. Brad Collins
24. Aapo Halme
30. Michal Helik
15. Jasper Moon
20. Toby Sibbick
21. Romal Palmer
7. Callum Brittain
4. Callum Styles
9. Cauley Woodrow
11. Aaron Leya Iseka
28. Dominik Frieser
Substitutes:
29. Victor Adeboyejo (for Leya Iseka 45)
17. Claudio Gomes (for Palmer 45)
23. William Hondermarck (for Sibbick 79)
Unused Substitutes:
1. Jack Walton, 22. Clarke Oduor, 32. Jason Sraha, 44. Devante Cole.
Stoke Team:
12. Josef Bursik
19. Leo Østigard
36. Harry Souttar
16. Ben Wilmot
2. Tommy Smith
28. Romaine Sawyers
4. Joe Allen
8. Mario Vrancic
14. Josh Tymon
22. Sam Surridge
18. Jacob Brown
Substitutions:
7. Sam Clucas (for Allen 73)
27. Abdallah Sima (for Brown 76)
11. Alfie Doughty (for Surridge 86)
Unused Substitutes:
1. Adam Davies, 6. Danny Batth, 15. Jordan Thompson, 23. Tom Ince.
Stoke manager Michael O’Neill said:
"We were trying to win the game and Dean Holden went in there trying to get the ball back. It was clear the Barnsley staff were trying to slow the game down. But a punch was thrown and the next thing you know there's 20 or 30 people involved.
"There was nothing really behind it, other than us trying to retrieve the ball. I won't ever be angry with my staff for that. We were attempting to get the game going again and trying to win the game with 10 men.
"I'm not sure how we ended with two of our staff being sent off, but I've no issue with my staff sticking up for one another.
"The ball seemed to run away from Tommy Smith a bit. If you slow it down, the challenge doesn't look great. I don't think there was any malice there, though. And the reaction of their player was a bit excessive."
Sky Bet Championship results
TUESDAY 14TH SEPTEMBER 2021
Blackburn Rovers (8th) 2-0 Hull City (21st)
Ayala 61
Brereton Diaz 65
Blackpool (22nd) 0-3 Huddersfield Town (6th)
Koroma 48
Pearson 54
Hogg 62
AFC Bournemouth (3rd) 2-1 Queens Park Rangers (7th)
Anthony 12
Solanke 37
McCallum 57
Sheffield United (19th) 2-2 Preston North End (14th)
Gibbs-White 7
Johnson 19
Berge 84
Riis Jakobsen 90+5
Reading (18th) 3-1 Peterborough United (23rd)
Swift 64
Dele-Bashiru 67
Thompson 74
Dele-Bashiru 88
West Bromwich Albion (2nd) 0-0 Derby County (16th)
WEDNESDAY 15TH SEPTEMBER 2021
Birmingham City (10th) 1-4 Fulham (1st)
Odoi 10
Mitrovic pen 44
Wilson 54
Mitrovic 83
Deeney pen 87
Bristol City (12th) 1-1 Luton Town (13th)
Baker 57
Hylton 90+1
Coventry City (4th) 1-0 Cardiff City (9th)
Gyokeres 15
Nottingham Forest (24th) 0-2 Middlesbrough (11th)
Sporar 24
Hernandez 72
Stoke City (5th) 1-1 BARNSLEY (17th)
Surridge 17
Woodrow 38
Swansea City (20th) 0-0 Millwall (15th)
Barnsley lie in 17th place in the Sky Bet Championship with 7 points from 7 games. We are 6 points off the Play-Offs, 8 points off the Automatic Promotion Places, 9 points off First Place and 2 points above the Relegation Zone.
Up to 17/9/21
Next Up:
At Oakwell:
Sky Bet Championship Matchday Eight: Barnsley v Blackburn Rovers, Saturday 18th September 2021. Kick-Off: 3pm
On The Road:
Sky Bet Championship Matchday Nine: Blackpool v Barnsley, Saturday 25th September 2021. Kick-Off: 3pm