It might have got edgy, but Wanderers did what they had to. The landslide victory that looked on the cards from a scintillating first half didn’t materialise but the victory that mattered did as the Whites made it four wins in a row, writes Pete Oliver.
Steven Schuamcher’s men were virtually unstoppable before the break as two more goals from the in-form Sam Dalby – his second double in three games – and one for a re-vitalised John McAtee gave Wanderers a seemingly unassailable lead.
They should have scored more but the fact they didn’t, didn’t feel critical at the time, such was the Whites’ dominance. Things never come easy, though, and two goals in four minutes from Barnsley suddenly revived the visitors with half an hour to go.
Both sides then still had multiple chances to add to their tally in a thrilling spectacle. But remarkably neither goal was breached again and Wanderers stood firm when it mattered to make it three home wins in a row to keep momentum and form intact for next Saturday’s huge game at second-placed Lincoln City.
On the back of a fourth win in five games and no need to rush anyone back from injury, Schumacher enjoyed the luxury of naming both an unchanged staring line-up and bench. And with confidence surging through Wanderers’ veins they put Barnsley to the sword almost from the off.
The visitors actually had the first effort at goal and Jack Bonham, with three clean sheets from his first five appearances for the Whites, had to make an excellent save to keep out a long-range effort from Scott Banks inside the first 60 seconds.
And having got over that early scare Wanderers released the handbrake and tore into the Tykes. Dalby almost punished a hurried clearance from goalkeeper Owen Goodman to get his side on the front foot and with Barnsley’s back line a bag of nerves the openings started to come.
From a fifth-minute corner Dalby peeled off to nod into Kyle Dempsey’s delivery and only two fine stops from Goodman to deny Corey Taylor-Blackett and McAtee stopped the Reds from subsiding in the opening quarter of an hour.
It looked only a matter of time before Wanderers would score again, though, as Taylor-Blackett and Rob Apter made hay down the flanks on their home debuts and willing white shirts buzzed all over the place in a superb start.
The football was fun to watch, although the Whites won’t mind that their second also came in scruffy fashion from a corner, Dalby again perfectly placed at the far post to hook the ball in from close range to move to nine for the season as Barnsley buckled again.
The Yorkshiremen took a time-out to try and stem the flow as Goodman went down injured – not that it did them any good as with half an hour gone it was 3-0 and apparently game over.
This time Dalby was the provider, muscling past Jack Shepherd after more good work by Apter before squaring to McAtee to sweep home his second goal this season against his former loan club.
If it hadn’t been for Goodman, Barnsley could have been on to a hiding by half-time and again the Tyles’ keeper came to his side’s rescue with a finger-tip save to deny Blackett-Taylor in stoppage time at the end of arguably Wanderers’ best 45 minutes of the season.
Reds’ boss Conor Hourihane made four changes at the start of the second half in an attempt to repair the damage but Wanderers could have added a fourth six minutes after the re-start had McAtee picked out Apter in front of goal with options at his disposal, before McAtee’s endeavour won a corner which dropped for Ethan Erhahon to fire in an effort blocked in the six-yard box.
Inevitably, there had to be some response from the visitors and perhaps a drop-off from the Whites and with 55 minutes gone things changed when Luca Connell’s deflected effort bounced past Bonham to make it 3-1.
Almost immediately Tom Bradshaw missed a chance to pull another goal back and with an hour gone it was game on when substitute Adam Phillips rammed the ball home in typical fashion to really give Wanderers something to think about.
Schumacher reacted with a double change – as an injury to Bonham also bought some time – and it was now Wanderers’ turn to look vulnerable, despite a couple of key interventions from Chris Forino.
Injury to Jordi Osei-Tutu brought a further change and while Cyrus Christie could have been expected to tighten things up defensively, it was the substitute that almost gave the Whites added breathing space with a fine strike saved by Woodman after more persistence from McAtee.
For any neutral it would have been a thrilling watch and Barnsley threatened again when Corey O’Keefe crossed for former Wanderers’ loanee Nathan Ogbeta to connect with a header which looked like the equaliser until Bonham got across to make another vital save.
But Wanderers didn’t just try to hang onto what they had as another decent opening at the other end saw substitute Mason Burstow tee up McAtee for another goalbound effort that was blocked. And it was the Whites’ attacking intent and re-discovered threat that ultimately won the day and kept them third in the table and ready to pounce thanks to five wins and a draw from their last six games.
Wanderers: Bonham; Osei-Tutu (Christie 69), Toal, Forino, Johnston; Erhahon, Dempsey (Simons 62); Apter (Burstow 80), McAtee, Blackett-Taylor (Gale 62); Dalby. Substitutes: Harrington, Cissoko, Temple.
Booked: Dempsey, Forino, Johnston
Barnsley: Goodman; O'Keeffe, O'Connell (de Gevigney, HT), Shepherd, Watson (Ogbeta HT); Bland, Connell; Banks, McGoldrick (Kelly HT), Cleary (Phillips HT); Bradshaw. Substitutes: Flavell (GK), Roberts, Yoganathan.
Booked: Bland, Shepherd
Referee: Scott Oldham
Attendance: 21, 415 (1,066)