Analysis of Barnsley's 3-2 loss at home to Manchester United under 21s in the EFL Trophy.
LATE COLLAPSE AFTER YOUNG REDS LOOK SET TO WIN
AFTER 80 minutes, this looked like being a triumph for Barnsley’s young team with the headlines going to two-goal star Vimal Yoganathan and 15-year-old record-breaker Oliver Wilkinson.
But, on 82 minutes, Ethan Ennis finished off a fine move down the right and, two minutes later, Jack Fletcher smashed in a superb 30-yard volley then, three minutes after that, Fletcher received the ball from a throw-in totally unmarked and shot through Ben Killip.
Three goals in five minutes and suddenly the few hundred in the away end were raucous and the Barnsley youngsters’ dream night had a nightmarish ending.
Against a side of top prospects but with just four senior appearances between them, Barnsley’s extra experience looked to have helped them to victory –along with clinical finishing after sloppy errors at the back from a young side determined to pass out.
But, with the older players taken off to save their legs ahead of bigger games such as the returning Josh Benson, the home team got younger and less equipped to see out the win. United, who had had good spells throughout but missed chances, gained more and more momentum then suddenly became clinical.
Several of the Barnsley youngsters froze but senior players still on were also responsible as two of the goals came down Conor McCarthy’s side while Killip could have done better for the winner.
To compound matters, Corey O’Keeffe, who did little in the game to suggest he should start ahead of Barry Cotter in the league, was sent off for an alleged elbow on Harry Amass. It was on almost exactly the same part of the pitch that James Norwood elbowed a Lincoln player two years earlier in the same competition.
Overall it was a strange night with the kick-off delayed due an injured referee, then a major first half downpour of rain sending many of the occupants of the sparsely-populated East Stand scurrying to the back for shelter.
The result left Barnsley in danger of not getting out of an EFL Trophy group for the first time ever. If they lose at Huddersfield in October, they could be unable to make the top two before they host Doncaster in November.
SCHOOLBOY WILKINSON MAKES HISTORY
Oliver Wilkinson is due to start his final year of school in a few weeks and is scheduled to sit his GCSEs next summer.
But the 15-year-old defender, who was born in January 2009, will have plenty to talk to his class-mates about after becoming Barnsley’s youngest ever starting player.
The England under 16s squad member beat the record set by Eric Brookes – at 16 years and 234 days – in a 4-1 win over Bradford City in September 1960 – by 383 days.
He is a few months older than Reuben Noble-Lazarus was when he came off the bench in 2008 which was before Wilkinson was born.
Barnsley will surely need to manage this young talent more effectively than Reuben who never achieved his potential.
In the first half, Wilkinson lost the ball for Ennis to go through on the right but the finish from a tight angle went across the face of goal. In the second half, he made a couple of crucial blocks in his box.
In general he looked assured and composed for such a young player before tiring and being taken off at 2-0 on 66 minutes for another debutant Connor Barratt.
MAKESHIFT STRIKEFORCE IMPRESSES AS VIMAL NETS FIRST GOALS
When the team-sheets came out, after the scramble to find out what records Wilkinson had broken, the realisation dawned that there were no strikers in the home 11.
When the Reds lined up, midfielder Yoganathan and wing-back Kyran Lofthouse took up the strikers’ positions.
Any bemusement was soon tinged with pleasant surprise as Lofthouse assisted Yoganathan for his first two senior goals in the first half.
Yoganathan’s first goal saw Jacob Devaney gift Lofthouse the ball on the right of the box and the second was due to an Ethan Wheatley throw-in which put him through on the left.
They then reverted to midfield and left wing-back respectively after the break.
Yoganathan, 18, continues to impress in his cup cameos and strengthened his case for involvement in the league. He had never played up front other than in Sunday League junior football but was more like ‘VimAlan Shearer’ with two clinical finishes past England goalkeeper Tom Heaton who had made his professional debut before Vimal was born. It was a good confidence boost after being taking off in the EFL Cup at half-time the previous week, having played generally well but been booked and conceded a penalty. He is the Reds’ top-scorer in all competitions this season.
Lofthouse, who made his first ever start for the club, continues to be one of the most eye-catching players in the early weeks of this season with powerful running and ability to pass and cross accurately.
Impressing against a team of totally untested youngsters who were trying to play out from the back and often giving the ball away, is almost a different sport to the physical and direct world of League One.
But Lofthouse and Yoganathan could not have realistically done any better in their 45 minutes up front together, and it is something for Clarke to ponder given his lack of senior strikers.
His only senior front men are Sam Cosgrove, Max Watters - who has a tight hamstring - and Aiden Marsh who came on at half-time, as the head coach and the fans desperately await reinforcements from the transfer window.
JACOB DEVANEY STARTS FOR VISITORS WITH DAD IN HOME DUGOUT
Barnsley assistant head coach Martin Devaney must have experienced a range of emotions on the touchline.
He was there to do his job, with supporting coaches often having a more prominent role in this cup allied with his knowledge of the younger players.
But it must have been strange that one of the opponents was his son, and a very proud moment for the family as Jacob played in a senior competition for the first time.
Defensive midfielder Jacob – who is Barnsley born and bred while his younger brother Joel is in the Reds academy – lost the ball for the opener and another early chance. But he grew into the game and beat both Aiden Marsh and Jonathan Bland to the ball in the build-up to the equaliser.
It was a night of children of former players.
Bayley McCann, the son of Devaney’s old Reds team-mate and current Doncaster manager Grant, came on for his senior debut while Josiah Dyer, whose father is Barnsley legend Bruce, made his home debut.
They both had difficult nights coming off the bench as the hosts were losing control of the game. Dyer and Marsh made little impact up front while McCann and McCarthy were exposed on the left of the defence during the late comeback.
The player with probably the most famous father was Jack Fletcher – son of Manchester United Champions League winner Darren – who came on to score the final two goals.
BIG WEEK AHEAD
This was the first of three home games in three different competitions across a week, with Northampton visiting in the league then Sheffield United in the cup.
It was the least important for various reasons but every home match has some value at the moment as Barnsley need to end their abysmal form at Oakwell.
Since beating Derby in February, they have now failed to win in nine home games across all competitions, losing five – including the last three – and conceding 20 goals.
The club record wait for a home win is 12, which they could threaten if they do not improve in the coming days.
The Northampton game feels particularly big for the just the third league fixture of the season, with victory needed to remove that Oakwell hoodoo and generate some positivity and momentum.
It is a crucial week with strikers and probably a left wing-back needed in the transfer window, the bizarre Callum Styles limbo requiring a swift resolution and, with this club, there will always be nagging worry that a star player – in this case most likely Adam Phillips or Luca Connell – will be sold despite all the insistence to the contrary.
