Barnsley 4 - 2 Fleetwood

This match will be remembered for all the wrong reasons as Fleetwood boss Joey Barton allegedly assaulted Daniel Stendel in tunnel afterwards. We wish Stendel a speedy recovery from his injuries and if Barton is found guilty then there is surely no place in football for him after this but that is not what we want to focus on in this article.

The after match incident took all focus away from an important victory for the reds in the automatic promotion race.

Sunderland’s amazing 4 – 5 defeat to Coventry left the race wide open with Portsmouth and Charlton also in the hunt.

This was an important victory for Barnsley after the defeat at Burton and it was a much improved performance after a few poor ones over the last month or so.

There were a few surprise selections with Jordan Williams’ inclusion at right back and Adam Jackson starting at Centre Half.

Both played well and I would say Williams deserves to keep his place for the Shrewsbury match.

Jackson however is a different case. He came in and didn’t put a foot wrong which is remarkable given how little game time he has had this season.

However, if Lindsay is fit I think he has to come back in. Lindsay and Pinnock have been solid all season and despite Jackson playing so well at the weekend I have to ask the question – would we have still conceded two goals with Pinnock and Lindsay at centre back?

The main thing was that we were back on goal scoring form and four different scorers as Bahre, Woodrow, McGeehan and Brown all found the net. We have struggled in this department lately and are certainly missing Keifer Moore but this will have hopefully reignited everyone’s confidence.

One thing that did disappoint me during the match was when a small selection of the crowd began to get on Thiam’s back.

Don’t get me wrong, at times his decision making leaves a lot to be desired, the shot when he should have crossed on Saturday for one. But a couple of mistakes like that and the crowd were on his back and you could tell it really got him.

He responded in the best way possible by creating the goal for McGeehan but his responses after the goal showed how upset he was regarding the crowd. He just put his head down, visibly disappointed, and didn’t want to celebrate. Luckily some of the players realised and went over to him to celebrate but the damage had already been done and the crowd making players feel like this during a game isn’t a good thing for the team and our promotion push.

We, as fans, have done this for a long time now and seem to single out certain players repeatedly for the slightest little thing. It’s a vocal minority and it gets the band wagon boys jumping on too. It frustrates me as a fan more than anything else that I see at Oakwell.

The moans and groans for incidents like that should be left to the pub after and not during games or on social media/forums, particularly for a team unbeaten at home and having a great season.

I’m hopeful for 6 points over the weekend to put the pressure right on our rivals. Anyone making the trip to Plymouth, I take my hat off to you, especially if you’re having a few beers on Sunday too.

COYR