Neill Collins said Barnsley’s 3-2 success at Carlisle United was ‘in some respects the biggest win of the season.’
The Reds fell behind to another early goal but Jordan Williams, John McAtee and Jon Russell netted before a late scare.
The victory at the bottom club came three days after a 5-1 loss to Lincoln City at Oakwell.
Head coach Collins told the Chronicle: “It’s a huge win. In some respects the biggest win of the season. “They all feel like that at the time but, despite all the positives, one performance can raise questions. I thought the players answered them well tonight.
“In some games the early goal has been coming, tonight I didn’t see it coming. One mistake and it’s on the back of the net.
“But after that we dominated. We could have scored more. There was another mistake at the end which makes it more interesting than I would like.”
Williams equalised with his first goal of the season, a 25-yard strike, but was at fault for Carlisle’s second.
“It was fantastic. Jordan has been an excellent captain all season. I am delighted for him. For a large part his performance was excellent. He made a little mistake at the end which might grab more attention than the rest of his performance. We put him back in there because we couldn’t risk Jamie McCart who was flagged at high risk.”
McAtee tapped in the second from a Sam Cosgrove cross after top-scorer Devante Cole dropped to the bench.
“He said to me before the game they are the best type of goal. He can thank his strike partner for the touch and cross. They were both excellent. Devante has been super but we had to give him a rest for his sake and give him the opportunity to be back to his best because he’s put in a lot of work.”
Russell, who has been a stand-in for much of the season, headed in the third. Collins said: “Jon was very good. He’s chipped in with four goals which is what we’d expect for a midfielder. It’s not easy coming into a team doing well. He took his opportunity.”
Barnsley equalled a club record for ten league games unbeaten away in the same season.
Collins said: “It’s fantastic to get a big record like that at a club like Barnsley who have had a lot of good teams over the years. It says a lot about the team.”
Goalkeeper Liam Roberts missed the game through injury.
Collins said: “It’s a small injury. It’s something we had to protect. He could be back available for Saturday.”
Donovan Pines will not play on Saturday but Collins hopes he will return this season.
