Analysis of Barnsley's 1-0 loss at Wrexham on Tuesday, with the goal coming in injury-time.
DEVITO DELIGHT IN LA, BARNSLEY MISERY IN AWAY END
‘YOU DIDN’T think you were going to win did you?’ says Danny DeVito’s Penguin to Michael Keaton’s title character in Batman Returns.
If that sounds like a bizarre intro for a Barnsley match report, so was the footage of DeVito celebrating Wrexham’s injury-time winner on Tuesday. He was with the Welsh club’s owner Rob McElhenney at the Cosm ‘immersive theatre’ in Los Angeles where the game was being shown as a first for the EFL, on the huge curved screen which is supposed to make you feel like you are at the game.
It was a Hollywood ending to a fairly dull game for a club with momentum, who are looking for a third straight promotion under McElhenney and fellow actor Ryan Reynolds.
The Reds fans – more than 1,200 of whom attended – probably didn’t expect they were going to win despite their fine away record, as their team offered next to nothing in attack, and even the late loss had an air of inevitability about it at the hardest place to go in the EFL this season.
Unlike DeVito at the sports bar in LA, they watched from a very cold away end before making the long midweek trip home with their side winless in five and sliding out of the play-off places down to eighth.
To quote DeVito’s Penguin again: ‘the word you’re looking for is… aaaaahhh!!!’
REDS STRUGGLE TO PERFORM IN TOUGH FIXTURE
This was always going to be a difficult fixture.
Wrexham are second in League One, and have the best defensive record in the division with just 11 goals conceded in 18 matches.
They have won 11 out of 12 games at home in all competitions this season – with the other being a 0-0 draw with Huddersfield – while they have only lost four there in the last four league seasons combined.
They have the most points at home in the top four English leagues with 28 from ten games – more than Barnsley have in total – while conceding just four goals, two of which came on the opening day.
They did not play particularly brilliantly in this game, although they were the better side and opened up a ten-point gap between the clubs which will be tough to close even across 28 matches.
They are very experienced – their squad had an average age of 29 with nearly a thousand games combined in the Championship and Premier League – and they know how to win after back-to-back promotions.
The Reds have made 17 trips to Wrexham without winning – losing 13 – which is by far the highest number of games played at any club without a victory in their history.
There has never been an away win in games involving the Reds and Wrexham, something the Welsh club will look to change when they play each other on New Year’s Day at Oakwell.
Darrell Clarke said that Wrexham’s assistant manager – and former Barnsley boss – Steve Parkin told him afterwards that Barnsley were the best team they had faced at home this season. Similar sentiments were expressed by regular Wrexham watchers in the stands and the press box. But, from the perspective of someone who watches Barnsley regularly, they did not play anywhere near as well as they could and should have.
REDS OFFER VERY LITTLE IN ATTACK
Barnsley were organised defensively, limiting the hosts mainly to shots from distance, and pressed well at times but, on the ball going forward, it was one of their worst performances for weeks.
Admittedly they were playing against the best defence statistically in the division, but the Reds did not click in attack. They had little aggression in their forward play with players often seeming to be on different wavelengths, making poor decisions or lacking quality in passes or shots. None of the attacking players who started really impressed.
While the issue had been taking chances in their previous three games, here it was creating them as they failed to score for a third time in four matches.
Davis Keillor-Dunn had a shot blocked early on during a brief opening spell in which the Reds seemed to catch their hosts cold, but then had no other openings against his old club.
Stephen Humphrys completed just four passes all night as the link up between the strikers and midfield was just not there, while he completely missed the ball when trying to shoot from the edge of the area seconds before being taken off.
Those two have played a lot of games and looked tired, but seem to be the only strikers Clarke trusts to start.
Fabio Jalo – who was not born the last time these teams met in April 2005 – came on for Humphrys and, although he only had eight touches in total, he offered more than all the other visiting attackers. The teenager was the only Red who managed to beat defenders in dangerous positions. He first set up a chance for Phillips whose easily-saved 20-yard shot was Barnsley’s first on target then, minutes later, Jalo skipped past Lewis Brunt in the box from a Phillips pass but his shot was tipped over by Mark Howard who is literally twice his age at 38.
That was Barnsley’s best chance, with the only other one of note being a Jon Russell header which he got badly wrong from a Luca Connell corner – while both of those players skewed long-range shots well over. The midfield worked hard but lacked quality, with no minutes for Kelechi Nwakali after starting and impressing on Saturday.
A FINE GOAL BUT TIRED REDS DEFEND IT BADLY
In the 93rd minute, Wrexham centre-back Eoghan O’Connell had the ball just outside his box and easily rounded the attempted press of recent substitute Sam Cosgrove who slipped over. O’Connell then had time to pick a pass through the middle to Oliver Rathbone who had run off the back of Phillips and picked up the ball in space behind all three of the Barnsley midfielders. None of the defenders closed him down and he was able to rifle a 25-yard shot with his weaker left foot into the bottom right corner to spark pandemonium in the stands. It was a fine goal but poor defending by Barnsley literally from front to back.
The Reds had appeared to have overcome their issue of conceding late goals in recent weeks but this was the tenth they have let in after 75 minutes this season – the most in League One and the joint most in English professional football. Their goal difference in the second half of games is minus seven compared to plus ten before half-time.
There was always a concern that they played 120 minutes on Saturday in the FA Cup while Wrexham had a free weekend, and the goal was a case of tired minds and tired legs failing to see out what would have been a good point.
The documentary about Wrexham’s rise, which is a global hit, will likely only focus on that goal as the rest of the match was quite dreary – although you could make a decent compilation video of Ben Killip’s saves. The goalkeeper played well again and, although Clarke had a point when he said the six stops were mainly routine, they did include a fine one-handed save from a long-range effort by ex-Red Matty James who, along with former Oakwell colleague Elliot Lee, had a good game for Wrexham.
The defence in front of Killip was solid and never really opened up. Clarke chose to bring on Donovan Pines for Georgie Gent – who had dealt fairly well with the league’s top assister Ryan Barnett – and go with an extra large back line against the hosts’ big substitute strikers Paul Mullin and Steven Fletcher.
ANOTHER CHANGE IN FORM SINCE AN INTERNATIONAL BREAK
The narrative after the October international break, and rightly so, was that Barnsley had sorted out a lot of problems and were playing much better. But since the November international break – although they played during it – they have gone backwards, at least in terms of results.
Their performances have not been terrible, but there are concerns about cutting edge as well as their abject home form, and five games without a win at this level will always be a disappointment.
At the moment, they look a way off competing for the top positions in the league and more likely to be one of many teams with hopes of sneaking in the play-offs.
They have been looking for a statement win this week against one of the top sides and, after missing out at Wrexham, they now face big-spending Birmingham at Oakwell on Saturday. That is a tough game to pin hopes of a turnaround on, but defeat will heap more pressure on Clarke and his team – who were booed off by some in Wales – while a win could be a morale-boosting turning point.
They then have four more games this year, including trips to Bolton and Peterborough, as they need to pick up at least a couple of wins to stop this run become a major issue and to stay in contact with the top six before surely strengthening their attack in January.
