Analysis of Barnsley’s 2-1 win at Lincoln City on Saturday. The Reds went 2-0 up through Sam Cosgrove and Marc Roberts but the hosts replied and missed a series of chances.
EXCELLENT RESULT GETS FIRST POINTS ON BOARD
BARNSLEY got their first points on the board this season with this victory and that, in some ways, is all that matters.
The Reds were second best for large portions of the game and rode their luck.
But they had not won in their last seven league games, stretching back to Easter Monday at Burton Albion, after which they lost their final four away games of the campaign.
They had not beaten Lincoln in ten league meetings since 1973, with the latest being a humiliating 5-1 home loss in March.
Lincoln have been one of the division’s form teams in 2024 and are very hard to beat at home so this is an excellent result.
Barnsley just needed to get their first league win early and this is something to build on, although there is plenty of work to do.
CLARKE NOT HAPPY AFTER DISAPPOINTING PERFORMANCE
‘Nowhere near good enough’ were Darrell Clarke’s first words of a post-match interview in which he cut a downcast and frustrated figure.
He said that, while he would give the noisy and sold-out away end full marks, his team’s score was ‘three out of ten’ and he ‘wanted to throttle’ some of them during the match.
Those words after the first victory set a high standard for the campaign and were refreshing for a lot of fans who felt the same way and had been frustrated last season by Neill Collins’ repetitive platitudes after nearly every game.
The away end chanted for Collins to be sacked at Sincil Bank last November but the supporters, so far, appear to be warming quicker to his straight-talking replacement.
Clarke knows that, in order for that to continue, Barnsley must play much better than this. They were worse than for the final hour of their opening day loss to Mansfield.
After Barnsley scored early in both halves, from their only shots on target, the hosts had spells of real dominance and were denied by poor finishing, controversial refereeing and some last-ditch Reds resilience.
Although they were clinical with their chances, and defended well at times with character, the Reds struggled to control the game and were often wasteful in possession. The midfield was particularly disappointing.
COSGROVE SHOWS QUALITY IN SQUAD
With all the talk of the Reds wanting two or three strikers this window, Sam Cosgrove provided a reminder that there is already forward quality in the squad as he opened the scoring with a fine left-footed finish into the bottom left corner from just inside the box.
Although he had no other opportunities on a day when the Reds strikers lacked service in general, Cosgrove also put a big shift in defensively - heading out some of the many set pieces pumped into the box. He was also fairly harshly treated by the referee at times, being penalised for some 50/50 battles in his physical war with the home defence.
Cosgrove’s goal should give him a confidence boost and he deserves to stay in the 11 but the lack of depth was clear when the only attacking option on the bench was academy graduate Aiden Marsh who has one EFL goal and may be loaned out this window. He came on for Max Watters who had made some decent
runs down the flanks without really threatening the Lincoln goal.
ROBERTS SETS UP OPENER AND NETS SECOND
Marc Roberts headed home 70 seconds into the second half. It was his first Barnsley goal in more than seven years, since a 2-0 win at Blackburn in April 2017, but also his second in his last six games for the club.
It was a clever set piece goal, brilliantly created by Barry Cotter who replaced Corey O’Keeffe in the 11.
Roberts, playing on the left of the back three, also assisted the opener with a cross from the left while he won 13 headers and made eight clearances. It must also be said that he conceded the corner from which Lincoln scored when he could have put the ball out for a throw.
All of the defenders looked vulnerable on the ball at times, but generally they defended well and were certainly kept busy. Donovan Pines - who completed 90 minutes after 57 on his return from injury on Tuesday - gifted Lincoln a big first half chance but also made the most tackles and interceptions. His one-on-one defending was impressive as he kept pace with Lincoln attackers and often snuffed out danger by outmuscling them then seeing the ball out of play.
Mael de Gevigney - on his 50th appearance - completed the back three and was better than in midweek while Josh Earl moved to left wing-back as Barnsley wanted someone tall there to stop Lincoln playing diagonal long balls.
The Reds have a huge team this season and look a real set piece threat, but will need to cut out the defensive errors soon.
Goalkeeper Gabriel Slonina had a fine EFL debut, making one outstanding one-on-one save at 1-0 from Jovan Makama after Luca Connell lost the ball following a Reds corner.
LINCOLN FEEL REFEREE DECISIONS GO AGAINST THEM
Referee Martin Coy was lenient to the Reds almost a year previously to the day when he did not send off debutant Mael de Gevigney for what looked like a second yellow card offence at home to Oxford. He declined to punish the Reds again in this match in the bigger incidents.
Home coach Michael Skubala thought his side should have had a penalty for a strong challenge by Marc Roberts on Tendai Darikwa on the right of the box.
He also said a Barnsley player was guilty of ‘a punch to the back of the head’ and it did look as though Jon Russell struck a Lincoln player in an off-the-ball incident for which he received a yellow card.
Knowing for certain if it was a punch to the head would require a replay which has not been made public yet.
Substitute Russell had only been on the pitch a few minutes on his 50th Reds appearance.
Those two incidents were during a spell in the lead up to the home goal, after Russell and Aiden Marsh came on, in which the Reds suddenly lost control of the match which they never truly regained.
