Darrell Clarke said Barnsley’s 3-0 win at Crawley Town was ‘really pleasing’ and thanked the fans who made the long trip.
The Reds cruised into a 3-0 half-time lead with a Donovan Pines opener and Adam Phillips’ brace.
Clarke said: “It’s a really a pleasing performance and win, with a clean sheet. The lads executed the gameplan well, the press was really good and we killed them on transition. We perhaps could have had a couple more goals but defended really well.”
Barnsley had 27 per cent possession. Clarke said: “It’s what you do with possession. Crawley can be very good on the ball but we didn’t give them space to play. They haven’t really hurt us. We have to find different ways against different teams. We controlled a lot of the game without the ball.”
Pines opened the scoring with a header from a corner. Clarke said: “Successful teams will tell you, you have to be dangerous from set pieces and we were all afternoon.”
Phillips doubled the lead then won and scored a penalty just before the break. He said: “Adam is a quality player. I rated him highly before I came to the club and even more now. He took his goals well.”
Phillips added: “We’re delighted. We knew it would be a tough game against a possession-based team. But we had a gameplan, we knew they would give us chances.
“My first one was a little one two with Luca (Connell) around the corner. I like to make those runs. I took it nicely then somehow I did a mazy run for the second one and won a penalty. It’s my job to take penalties this year and I slotted it away.”
Clarke praised the 847 away fans who made the long trip to Sussex. He said: “They got right behind the boys from the first whistle. I think they enjoyed it. We are very thankful in these times that they spend their hard-earned money to come and support us. We’re glad we sent them home with a win.”
Max Watters came off with a foot problem after nine minutes. Clarke said it was ‘hopefully not too serious’. He said he didn’t know how long fellow striker Sam Cosgrove, who has missed the last two games, would be out for. Defender Pines came off with ten minutes left. Clarke said: “He got a kick on his calf and we didn’t want to take a risk.”
Barnsley brought in forwards Stephen Humphrys and Davis Keillor-Dunn on deadline day. Clarke said: “I am really pleased. Mladen (Sormaz, sporting director) and the recruitment team have done a lot of a lot of work in the window. It’s been frustrating for our supporters, and for me as a manager. We have two talented players to complement Marshy (Aiden Marsh), Cosgrove and Watters. We have five different and good options at the top end.”
Clarke singled out Marsh, who came on for Watters, for praise.
“Massive plaudits for Marshy. He never stopped running. I am disappointed he never got a goal but when you work as hard as he does and he’s Barnsley through and through, the fans appreciate that and I certainly do. We’ll keep working with him. He’s earned the chance to come on and he’s done very well.”
