Barnsley 1 Stockport County 1 ( Football League 1) Saturday 28 September 2024

 

 

 

 

Backed by well over 2000 travelling supporters, a battling  Stockport County team came away from Oakwell with a well-earned and richly deserved point  against Barnsley last night .

That the point came their way via a late/ late goal from  Louie Barry  made it all the more enjoyable, particularly, after County had gone behind to a distinctly debatable early penalty awarded against them within 3 minutes of  the  game kicking off, by Referee Declan Bourne.

County had the lions` share of possession throughout the game, but without ever looking likely to snatch that much sought after equaliser- their finishing as off as their  inclination to kick possession away- until , with 15 minutes left Fevrier and Diamond  came  on ,at last providing real width . Thus, with the  blue press upped a notch or two , a constant siege of the home goal by County reached a gloriously happy  conclusion with Barrys`s golden goal in the 92d minute.

County supporters , all 2400 of `em, celebrated the moment with great joy- and so they should!

 

 

 

 

 

 

County had worked their socks off for that result which was most definitely a point won!

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The game opened with a great roar from over 14000 at Oakwell, and a free kick to Barnsley.

Horsfall and Touray sorted that one but within a couple of minutes County were wading thigh deep in the brown stuff as Davis Keillor- Dunn  charged up the park drifting inside before going down in the box ,presumably having got a whiff of Onyango`s after shave- Mr Bourne took no time at all to point to the spot, which was beyond disappointing , but not as disappointing as watching  Phillips put the penalty away with clinical efficiency.

Three minutes gone and we were one down!

We didn’t need that, we needed County to work their way back into the game and at times  some of the football from the blues was pleasing on the eye, until it wasn`t and possession was kicked away.

Standing out from such moves was a sweet bit of work as the ball flew neatly from Collar to Tanto and on to Wootton- it was good stuff but without the finish that would lift the endeavour beyond the mundane.

Meanwhile Barnsley ,urged on by their fans and encouraged by a raft of decisions by the Referee , looked to increase their advantage- O`Keefe seeing a shot blocked, the follow up by Keillor- Dunn going for a corner .

County struggled to clear their lines from this, and when they did, I was not impressed to see Tanto fouled , the free kick going to the men in red, and a perfectly legitimate tackle by Woots adjudged to be a foul by the man in black.

Barnsley were enjoying a lot of the ball by midway into the first half – by contrast I could only speculate as to how the blues were feeling , but I could clearly see that Onyango, was now struggling for confidence having been booked subsequent to the penalty.

To add to County`s frustration the game was now littered with unscheduled interruptions as someone in red ( or an off-white keepers jersey) would slump to the floor unassisted – it was a thing of great wonder as to how Mr B settled on only 4 minutes added time at the break- I was expecting at least 10 minutes !

But we had not reached that point yet- Barnsley were back on the front foot having regained the vertical- Keillor- Dunn to the fore latching onto a long ball- it looked a dangerous moment for County until Onyango pulled out all the stops to track back, cover the ex-Mansfield man, saving the day for the blues!

That was doubly pleasing bearing in mind what had gone before for County`s number 24.

We got a small lift on 28 minutes as Barry lined up a shot on goal, but in the act of shooting he slipped, and his shot went wide.

Barry was not done and excellent work from him down the left promised much until thwarted by keeper Gabriel Slonina`s intervention.

But this was encouraging and from that point until half time County dominated possession if without adding that vital finish -Woots stealing possession from nothing but then missing the target albeit narrowly.

I was absolutely gob smacked to see Mr Bourne stop play with Onyango charging unattended up the park with blue shirted company wide to his left, to give County a free kick not quite on halfway.

Almost inevitably Barnsley broke clear from the free kick and it took good defensive work by Collar to block  the dangerous Keillor- Dunn`s progress.

Into 4 minutes added time then with Wootton doing well to head a home corner clear at the near post.

County replied to this action and might have done better as both Barry and Wootton were foiled attempting to put chances away by good work from the home keeper.

County were piling it on at this juncture , but …hey…ho…the back door was ajar allowing Keillor- Dunn and Humphrys chances to shine in the box- both getting decent shots off seeing Addai pull off an outstanding double save in response to deny them.

It was half time and there was much for DC to contemplate at the break.

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As anticipated Connolly was on for Onyango for County when the teams returned to the action after half time.

Despite being under pressure via a long throw , County began to play some neat football , supplementing it by harrying their opponents to great effect.

But the required finish was still lacking -Touray twice giving the keeper catching practise when a precise pass was the requirement. Bate did altogether better – winning possession from nothing before passing the ball  and running onto the return. His shot went narrowly wide – County`s luck was still out!

Then a lovely move, complimented by a superb dummy by Collar , saw Connolly inches from glory with his shot just before the hour mark.

It went on – Collar stinging Slonina`s hands with a shot following another lively move by County.

 

We had gone beyond the hour when DC  made more personnel changes for County as Fiorini and Camps came on for Norwood and Bate.

Barnsley missed a chance on 70 minutes which should have been put away -occurring as all sections of Oakwell responded to the local appeal for a minute`s applause following the passing of a Barnsley supporter-a nice moment in what so far had been a disappointing evening!

But Barry won us a corner, so things were on the up, but not for long as when Horfield was brought down crudely by  Cosgrove in the box – a clear penalty Mr Bourne was not interested- the Tykes were saved!

The Yorkshiremen cleared their lines quickly after that escape and County were grateful that their opponents finishing was no better than their own as Cotter dawdled away a chance when left in splendid isolation by the blue back line.

Then we had more County changes- Tanto and Wootton replaced by Diamond and Fevrier.

I was sorry to see Tanto depart but we now had real width on the park, and it quickly showed as the County press upped the revs pinning Barnsley in their last third!

The County surge saw Diamond force another corner , but somehow the ball stayed out of the home goal with blue shirts queueing hungrily for a shot at goal- so hungrily in fact that Fiorini had to be brought down by one of the severely harassed home back line in the box- surely we now had a penalty , and I wondered for a moment or two as Mr Bourne replicated James Linington`s expansive outward waving of the arms from the Crawley game, then I realised it really was the signal that the ref was not giving the penalty!

The corner was cleared.

County came back at Barnsley however-  Horsfall unable to get to Touray`s cross with 9 minutes left.

The County pressure continued apace with Diamond doing well on the break joined by Fevrier , but the moment went away when a hurried effort by Barry flew out over the bar.

A foul on Collar by Benson teed up a County free kick which morphed into a corner as Fiorini`s kick headed into the box, but again the finish on the end of it disappointed and Mr B`s liner added his two-pennyworth flagging someone in blue offside to end the raid.

But ..wait on….the back door was ajar again and County might have paid dearly but for a fine save by Addai as Earl threatened on the break 5 minutes later.

That was a warning as we continued to pile on the pressure into added time- a corner ratcheting the Tyke angst up to an unbearable level as shots rained in on Slonina`s goal .

It looked like the ball would never make the home net until , midst a blizzard of County attacking, and  the neatest of passes by Jayden Fevrier ,Louie Barry took charge leathering a fearsome drive home setting a frenzied celebration up behind Slonina`s goal!

There were still 5 minutes ( of 6 ) of added time to get through and …as 6 became 7….then 8  with Barnsley inching up the park looking for the winner `frustration ` with the Referee grew until finally….eventually the whistle was blown ,and a decent County point had been gained on a difficult Yorkshire night!

Lots to be considered  after this performance including whether or not real penetrative width is a commodity to be reserved for a late push or part and parcel of how we set ourselves up for games!

Tuesday`s another day………another game…see you at the New Meadow then !

 

Barnsley line up:-

 

 Slonina, Cotter (Pines 78), Roberts, De Gevigney, O’Keefe, Phillips (Lofthouse 82), Craig (Benson 56 ), Earl, Keillor-Dunn (Marsh 56), Humprhys (Cosgrove 56), Connell.

Subs not used: Killip, Jalo

 

Stockport County line up:-

Addai , Onyango ( Connolly 45) , Horsfall , Pye , Touray , Norwood ( Fiorini 63) , Bate ( Camps 63) , Collar , Olaofe ( Diamond 75) , Wootton ( Fevrier 75) , Barry.

Subs not used: Hinchliffe , Mellon.

 

Attendance : 14 882 ( 2378)

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