Barnsley Vs Wednesday: Match Review

After what seems to be one of the best games oakwell has seen in a long time, The boys in red put 4 goals past (then) league leaders Sheffield Wednesday which blew the race for automatic promotion wide open! Despite the game levelling in the 74th minute, the reds dug deep to find two more decisive goals to see off our fierce rivals.

League table as it stands

Game of the season!

It’s not everyday you see a 6-goal thriller at Oakwell, yet the reds did just that in an emphatic fashion having played Sheffield Wednesday off the park from the first whistle to the last. An early Devante Cole strike through goalkeeper Cameron Dawson’s legs saw the reds take the lead early on into the first half, then without any time to comprehend the early impact James Norwood slotted a 2nd for the reds from outside the box just 13 seconds after kick-off! The pressing from the reds got the best of the Wednesday side leading Will Vaulks to cause the mistake for the Norwood goal which went on to cause more and more problems through the night for Wednesday as the stamina and work ethic from Barnsley was simply unmatched.

However striker Lee Gregory did go on to pull one back for the owls within the first half to give them some sort of hope going into the second. Then after a more one-sided second half in favour of Sheffield Wednesday, Gregory found his second to level the scoring and put pressure on the reds. Despite his efforts however, substitute Max Watters fired the reds into the lead after one of the Wednesday defence’s many errors resulting in the ball falling to his feet on the penalty spot unmarked and then him striking to the ball into the roof of the net. That wasn’t all though! Under previous managers we would sat back at 3-2 and invited the pressure of the opposing sides risking the inevitability of losing the 3 points, but not under Duff as the reds continued their relentless efforts which was rewarded in a remarkable Liam Kitching last minute winner to secure the victory and the all important 3 points.

Oakwell Fortress

With the victory against Wednesday being our 22nd of the campaign, It also was our 6th home win in our last 6 home games meaning our last defeat at Oakwell came just under 3 months ago dating back to the 2nd of January when the reds suffered a 3-0 defeat against play-off contenders Bolton Wanderers. However over recent weeks the reds have succeeded in our tough run of games against the top 6 sides having gained 12 points from a possible 12 against the likes of Derby, Plymouth, Wycombe and Wednesday. With only a matter of games until the curtain is drawn on the 2022/23 season, the charge for automatic promotion is in our hands and despite the continued effort and sublime performances from the reds, there is plenty of work yet to be done to fight of the likes of Plymouth, Ipswich and Wednesday who currently occupy the spaces above. As of today this means the reds are unbeaten in 12 league games (the current longest unbeaten run in the league!) showing the mindset the players have and the question to be asked, who can stop us ?

The Fortress itself

Upcoming affairs

With the Match against Ipswich being (wrongly) postponed at the weekend due to International duty for the Ipswich players, yet only 2 of their squad members have been called up causing a lot of complaints from Barnsley fans as to why the game should not go ahead, although if I was an Ipswich fan I would be crossing my fingers that it remains postponed due to the flying form the reds would be going into the game with. Our next game however will be against southern outlet Exeter City at St. James Park on a Tuesday night in which the reds will hopefully get revenge for the 2-0 defeat they suffered in the reverse fixture at home thanks to an impressive Jay Stansfield brace. The reds still remain 2 games in hand over Plymouth Argyle and 1 against Ipswich and with a point difference of 8 for Plymouth and 3 for Ipswich, the season deciding games can most certainly come down to the final day. As for the upcoming fixtures, the reds have on paper quite an easy run of games with only 3 of the final 10 teams (Ipswich, Peterborough and Shrewsbury) in the top half of the table with only one being Ipswich actually in the top 6. Can the reds run riot and rack up maximum points? Or are we getting to ahead of ourselves? Either way the end of this season will be like none other and the reds have more than enough firepower to get us promoted to the Championship!