Barnsley 1 Stockport County 3 ( Football League 1 ) Saturday 2 May 2026

 

 

 

 

County strode magnificently into the playoffs today with an emphatic and most definitely merited 3-1 victory against Barnsley at their Oakwell home.

This was by far the most important match of the season thus far for County – but they approached it with an appropriate attention to the needs for them to attack Barnsley- a team more noted for attacking zeal than defensive nous.

It was 23 minutes before County`s forward push paid off via a typically bullish finish from Adama Sidibeh.

They still led 1-0 at half time and into the second half, but for a time it appeared that County were looking to defend deep and hold what they had- a thought that, rightly or wrongly, gained traction when Adam Phillips equalised for the Yorkshiremen.

Thankfully, the blues got their game together again, which with the state of our defensive resources as they are  just now, was 100 % the thing to be doing.

As soon as pressure was put on Barnsley`s back line- they folded  and County were greatly aided in their endeavours when Josh Stokes who did not look to have too much on, albeit he was inside the box, went down under pressure from a clutch of red shirted defenders and Mr Stocksbridge pointed to the spot- County had a penalty that Ollie Norwood polished off emphatically to ecstatic acclaim from over 2000 County supporters in the away end .

It was obviously not on to expect a fairy tale ending to this battle of the roses, but that`s what we got, deep into 11 minutes added time when Beno Andressen ran half the length of the park to score the final goal of the game and put County into the playoffs !

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The away end was a constant wall of noise as the game got underway -with County with their backs to their support.

Under the circumstances the makeshift back line of Dacres- Cogley , Wootton , Pye and Edun looked a workable unit.

What mattered however was what we could sort at the other end, and in this respect, County quickly got onto the front foot -Sidibeh and Stokes to the fore.

Bailey was in the mix also but wasted a chance 9 minutes in, his shot way off the target.

County were putting max pressure on their opponents, but inevitably, Barnsley would get a chance to shine themselves , and Pye tidied up brilliantly to stop the rot as ex Hatter Corey O`Keefe made mischief down our right flank.

I was miffed to see the referee penalise Sidibeh as he sought to break clear next, and hoped fervently that this would not be the prelude to another reffing nightmare initiated by Mr S!

The press from County continued apace- Bailey and Sidibeh pushing Barnsley back, winning a corner that home keeper Kieren Flavell claimed confidently.

The fifteenth minute ushered in a real chance, and it fell to Louie Barry – it looked to be a shoo-in but County`s number 20 couldn`t get a shot off – chance gone!

County continued to plie it on- Osborn and Edun winning a corner…..Osborn seeing a shot headed off the line with the keeper beaten.

Young Flavell was struggling at this point with County keeping the pressure very much on- flapping prodigiously at one point, yet…at another doing rather well, diving to keep a goal bound effort by Sidibeh out.

County seemed to sense their moment- the keeper spilling Norwood `s cross cum shot allowing the predatory Sidibeh to mop up the scraps and thump a ferocious drive home to give the blues the lead!

Cleary was Barnsley`s no 1 option in what remained of the half-twice going close – denied by Pye who kept a decent shot out around the half hour mark- and again by excellent defensive work by Edun with half time almost on us.

For County, Norwood, Sidibeh and Bailey all did good work putting pressure on Flavell, but it was till 1-0 when the teams went in at half time.

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Into the second half, and a definite change looked to be have effected on the park where County were pushed back into the last third of their territory, where red shirts buzzed about busily especially Cleary , who was  still the home side`s best bet to discomfort the blues- winning a corner early doors that forced Addai into urgent action with a fine save to deny Phillips .

To see County defending so deep was slightly unsettling -the more so when a foul by Sidibeh ramped up the pressure on the blues even more- Corey O`Keefe cutting inside from wide to pick out Phillips who headed the equaliser home.

County looked unsettled after that considerable shot across their bows – Stokes positioned well but scuffing his shot over the bar……County twice after that almost sleep walking into conceding a second goal.

They didn`t though, helped somewhat by Tom Bradshaw`s inability to get to a beautiful ball threaded to him deep into blue territory by O`Connell.

Then County received a boost as they worked the ball clear looking to strike the Tykes on the break. Stokes led the charge into the box ,but looked to be running out of options when , with 2 or 3 red shirted players around him, he went to ground.

Mr Stocksgridge wasted no time in pointing to the spot , awarding County a penalty, I was less sure of his judgement , but hey….we`ll take it wont we !

So, up stepped Norwood……ran in……fired his shot off….Flavell dived the correct way but could not keep it out- County now led 2-1 and the away end was a wall of joyous noise again as team and supporters enjoyed the moment.

DC rang the changes not long after the goal- Beno Andresson and Tanto Olaofe coming on for Adama Sidibeh and Louie Barry.

Straight off Andresson impressed, as he had done on Tuesday, Flavell only just beating him to a tasty through ball from Osborn.

County were showing distinct signs of taking charge again- Tanto in the mix a lot- not shy to pass to a team mate when it made sense to do so , as it was with just 9 minutes of normal time left when he picked out Stokes with an unselfish pass- Stokes shot went wide but I took heart that County were now looking to hit their opponents where it hurt most.

In that regard it was good to see both Roman Dixon and Andresson give Flavell some work to do especially Beno who was extremely unlucky to see his goal bound shot kept out by a terrific diving save by the Tykes keeper, who followed that up with another save to stop Osborn scoring almost on 90 minutes.

There was some interesting play now-County looked increasingly lethal on the break- Andresson particularly so- his endearing habit of hovering in front of goal almost willing the ball to come to him, which frequently it does, just the job for County in their current situation in my view!

But- Barnsley also looked to get back on level terms- Josh Earl thwarted brilliantly by Addai`s excellent save bang on 90 minutes.

Then Mr S found 11 minutes added time from somewhere- the immediate impact on the game seemingly to give the Tykes a bit of a psychological lift – Wootton called on to head clear .( 92 minutes)

as the pressure on the blues began to mount again.

County seemed to have their plan to counter this – making quick breaks from deep- but when Odin Bailey and Tanto Olaofe burst clear from deep (  93 minutes) the chance went begging when Bailey failed to pick Tanto out with his pass.

That was disappointing, but more and far worse was to come next , a minute later, and Tanto was involved again winning the ball near half way before threading a neat ball right into Andresson`s path as he headed for goal.Beno was in typical `head down  head for goal in the shortest route possible mode` but he had red shirted company and was soon chewing Oakwell dirt as his opponent sent his crashing to the deck.

I thought that was a clear penalty, but somehow Mr S came to the conclusion that it wasn`t and waved County`s protests away- a really poor decision!

There was time for Tayo Edun to show us what he could do adding to earlier good defensive works with more as the 95^th minute saw Barnsley look to get back at the blues.

Tanto`s through ball to Andresson was slightly under hit and enabled Flavell to intercept and clear a minute later.

That clearance prefaced pressure from Barnsley and County were back in numbers keeping them out- 11 in total but crucially Andresson was still `in the zone` despite being in the Barnsley half of the field, and equally crucially Bailey saw him and sent him scooting clear into the Tykes half.

He had company but he had the edge in raw Icelandic determination- shaking his marker off…drawing the keeper before burying the ball low and hard into the net.

The away end erupted

-       What a goal…what a moment…what a way to end a game!

-       That was totally brilliant just what any doctor would order for a football supporter low on endorphins!

Wow….what a performance, well done County – a fine team showing of the highest order-so well deserved!

Smiles abounded on the Flyer as we headed back to Stockport and contemplated County`s next challenge against Stevenage next Saturday.

The support for County was again absolutely brilliant today , they will need more of the same on Saturday, and I am absolutely certain they will get it!

 

Barnsley FC line up:-

Flavell , De Gevigney ( Roberts 72), O`Keefe , Phillips ( Lennon 63), Bradshaw ( Farrell 72) , O`Connell,Cleary , Kelly , Bland ( Banks 81) , Earl , Connell( Nwakali 81) .

Unused subs: Goodman , Gent

 

Stockport County line up:-

 Addai. Dacres-Cogley (Dixon 80), Wootton, Pye, Edun, Bailey ( Gardner 100), Norwood , Osborn, Stokes (Fiorini 80), Sidibeh (Olaofe 72), Barry (Andrésson 72).

Unused Subs: Hinchliffe, Mothersille.

Attendance: 12,940 (2,609).

hedgegrower

 

Crowd Shot Gallery by @machinsports