Analysis of Barnsley's 2-1 win at home to Wrexham on New Year's Day. Davis Keillor-Dunn and Adam Phillips put them 2-0 up on 25 minutes before the visitors came back in the second half and scored late on.

NEW YEAR CHANGES FORTUNES AT OAKWELL

THIS was a glimpse of what Oakwell should be like in League One.

The fans were totally behind a team who gave everything, showing quality and character before securing a vital win.

We had barely seen it for the best part of a year due to their wretched home form.

The Reds were winless in five at Oakwell, losing the last three, while they had the 21st best record on their own soil in the division and had only won two of the last 17 league matches there across almost a year.

This New Year’s Day game - although it was against a team well above them - felt like an opportunity to start afresh at Oakwell, after two fine wins on the road to end a mixed 2024.

This was the first time this season that Barnsley beat a club in the top six, having drawn three and lost three of their six games.

Having looked in danger of tumbling into mid-table after the 4-0 thrashing by Leyton Orient, they are suddenly back in the top six and well and truly in the promotion mix. It has been a fantastic comeback, despite illness and injuries in a brutal schedule.

RUN OF HIGH-CLASS GOALS CONTINUES IN DOMINANT FIRST HALF

Wrexham arrived second, a point off top and 12 clear of the Reds. They were unbeaten in nine games, with seven wins, and had the best defensive record in the division with 16 conceded in 23 games. But their away record is nowhere near as strong as their home form and they had not won at Oakwell in 16 attempts.

They were on top for the first five minutes but soon found themselves 2-0 down.

The Reds were clearly the better side in the first half, playing with more confidence and energy than their lacklustre visitors. But the most eye-catching element was the quality of their two goals by Davis Keillor-Dunn and Adam Phillips who moved onto nine and eight for the season respectively.

Keillor-Dunn – who said before the game that he was ‘dying’ to score against his former club – barely celebrated his goal after again demonstrating his expert finishing.

Phillips has seven league goals and four assists in the league this season, and looks back to his best which is as good as any player at this level. His goal came from an excellent assist by Max Watters.

Those goals continued a run of excellent finishes from the Reds across the Christmas and New Year week, including Keillor-Dunn and Phillips completing fine team moves at Bolton then Jon Russell’s stunner to finish off Peterborough.

REDS SHOW CHARACTER AS WREXHAM COME BACK IN SECOND HALF

The quality in the first half was matched by character in the second.

There is no doubt that Barnsley rode their luck after the break. They conceded 20 shots on their goal in the whole game, mostly after the interval, which is the most of the season.

They made a remarkable 55 clearances which is more than double their average of the season. Clarke said they had played much better at home in games they did not win.

The Reds struggled to keep the ball and also to cope with Wrexham’s more direct tactics. But the visitors’ finishing was poor while Barnsley defended heroically.

It was an extremely cold day and, in the second half, there was a torrential downpour of rain which seemed to add to the epic nature of Barnsley’s win.

KILLIP AND OTHERS EXCEL IN REARGUARD ACTION

Goalkeeper Ben Killip made six saves, several of them spectacular - suggesting that his disastrous display against Leyton Orient in the last home game was a one-off in freakishly windy conditions. Although the Reds will look to sign a new goalkeeper in January, Killip has currently earned a starting spot.

One of his one-on-one saves was followed immediately by a clearance off the line by Corey O’Keeffe in a moment which summed up the Reds’ rearguard action. If that had gone in, it would have been controversial as Paul Mullin, who was denied by Killip, had been off the pitch after crashing into advertising hoardings, but was allowed back on during an attack which confounded the Reds markers.

Wing-back Barry Cotter played out of position on the left against the division’s top assist-maker Ryan Barnett and, after struggling in the opening minutes, kept him quiet despite going down with cramp regularly in the second half.

Mael de Gevigney was excellent as he blocked three shots and had a 95 per cent pass success rate.

Conor McCarthy, who has been solid since coming into the defence after two years without appearing for the Reds in the league, made 12 clearances as he started in the middle of the back three.

Josh Earl came back from injury, making his first appearance since the game in Wrexham a month earlier.

He replaced Donovan Pines, with the American’s benching seeming harsh after he scored in the previous game and had generally been performing well. But the Reds were clearly trying to manage his workload and avoid him picking up an injury after a series of games in a short space of the time like in March.

Earl had a good game, adding an attacking input from the left of the back three, then was taken off just after half-time and replaced by Pines to deal with Wrexham’s long balls.

In defensive midfield, Luca Connell made the most tackles and interceptions as he screened the defence well. Jon Russell also put in a big shift in midfield along with Connell and Phillips.

RARE HOME WIN MUST BE BUILT ON

When Barnsley beat Bristol Rovers in September, it took them two months to win at home again in the league, against Rotherham which was followed by almost another two-month wait before this game.

This victory now needs to be built upon and the performance suggested it can be.

They certainly will be expected to record another victory at home to relegation-battlers Crawley Town on Saturday – although that will be a different type of game against a side with fresher legs having not played on New Year’s Day.

Home and away, they now play sides who are in the relegation battle or just above it as they face Crawley, Northampton, Bristol Rovers and Stevenage ahead of a tough trip to Wycombe at the end of the month.