Barnsley FC head coach Conor Hourihane salutes 'outstanding' David McGoldrick after Burton Albion draw
Barnsley head coach Conor Hourihane saluted David McGoldrick after the veteran marksman’s late leveller at Burton Albion.
Hourihane’s men were heading for defeat at the Pirelli Stadium after Charlie Webster put the Brewers ahead.
However, 38-year-old McGoldrick popped up in the dying embers to salvage a point for the South Yorkshire strugglers.
It was a continuation of strong form for the frontman, who has stepped up admirably since the sale of Davis Keillor-Dunn to Wrexham in the winter window.
Conor Hourihane lauds ‘outstanding’ David McGoldrick and ‘dogged’ Reds
Hourihane said: “I thought he was outstanding today. Marc Roberts was like a man possessed when he came on, having not played for a while.
“He has managed to head it back across and Didzy (McGoldrick) is there in the right place to score and it’s great.”
It was not a great advert for League One football but Hourihane was pleased with the way in which his players dug in.
He said: “It was a dogged performance - not the prettiest of games at all. Bradford have lost here recently, as have Stockport and we knew we needed to play a little bit differently.
“We had to go a little bit more direct and use the experience that we had on the pitch.
“We lost our two centre-halves (Eoghan O’Connell and Mael de Gevigney) through, in my opinion, poor challenges, but we ground it out and on the balance of play there wasn’t much in the game and I thought we deserved something.”
Gary Bowyer’s verdict
Burton boss Gary Bowyer, meanwhile, said: “We are a point better off than we were at the start of the day, but it needed to be three.
“I am frustrated with the way the free-kick occurs and then, when the free-kick is delivered, McGoldrick is offside. Like all good strikers, he is on the move when it’s headed back across, but it should be offside. The rules are bonkers.
“We score a wonderful goal and we had the ball flashing across the goal and we must score another goal The difference is that you have McGoldrick anticipating and he grabs a goal and we haven’t done enough of that in either half.”