ANALYSIS: “A good point” for Daniel Stendel, as Barnsley extend Oakwell run

The German boss is yet to taste defeat in a league match on home soil since arriving in England in the summer of 2018.

That amazing run helped the Tykes gain promotion from League One last season, and was extended on Saturday with a 2-2 draw against Charlton Athletic.

And if Stendel’s team are to stand any chance of surviving, or whisper it, even competing at the higher end of the Championship this term then Oakwell must remain the proverbial fortress.

The Tykes started the season with an impressive 1-0 home win over Fulham – fresh from relegation from the Premier League – and faced another side new to life in the second tier of English football, Charlton Athletic.

A wonder goal from Cauley Woodrow deserved to win any match, but after Conor Chaplin made it 2-1 - Conor Gallagher had equalised just before half-time – Lyle Taylor denied the hosts victory with an 89th-minute penalty.

Last season Barnsley were unbeaten on their home patch – winning 15, drawing eight – meaning locals have enjoyed their football at Oakwell in recent times.

Compare that to two seasons ago, when Barnsley were relegated from the Championship. Then, they won just five home games all season, a statistic which usually means a relegation scrap and looking up some lower league destinations for the following year.

On Saturday, it was the visitors who should have opened the scoring in the opening minutes.

Defender Ben Purrington ghosted in at the back post unmarked, but dragged his effort wide.

Reds centre-half Bambo Diaby was in the right place to block Josh Cullen’s goal-bound shot.

While the closest the hosts came to scoring saw Cauley Woodrow head over a corner in front of the visiting Charlton fans.

The visitors were forced into a reshuffle at the back, on 24 minutes, Chris Solly going off with a head injury to be replaced by Deji Oshilaja – who promptly went into the book for a rash tackle on Ben Williams.

The hosts were starting to get a foothold in the game and grabbed a stunning goal out of nothing.

There seemed little danger as the ball floated over Woodrow. But the striker managed to get the ball under control, before unleashing an unstoppable volley into Dillon Phillip’s top corner.

Moments earlier, Charlton had a massive escape, when Darren Pratley headed towards his own goal, only for Taylor to save his team-mate’s blushes.

Barnsley sensed a second goal, and Phillips was relieved to grab hold of Woodrow’s close-range effort.

The second did eventually arrive, the only surprise was that it was an equaliser –Gallagher drilling the ball home to silence the Oakwell punters five minutes before half-time.

Three minutes after half-time, and the Reds were back in front, as Chaplin danced his way through the visiting defence before wrong-footing Phillips to net.

And the former Coventry City forward almost made it 3-1, but fired over the crossbar after racing towards goal.

Mads Anderson saw his header cleared off the Addicks line, while at the other end Reds goalkeeper Radlinger got his body behind Taylor’s fierce drive, as Charlton searched for an equaliser.

That it arrived via an 89th-minute penalty was harsh on Barnsley.

Diaby was penalised for bringing down Gallagher, and Taylor – the former Sheffield United striker – walked up to the spot, before calmly slotting it beyond Radlinger.

REACTION

Barnsley boss Daniel Stendel was pleased with the way his side reacted to back-to-back defeats.

“I think we wanted to show that we can play much better than we have the last two games,” he said. “We wanted to play with more passion, especially at home in front of the supporters. We have to feel like we can win every game.

“We fought today, we sometimes missed the speed in transition. I’m disappointed with the result, especially with conceding a penalty in the last two minutes, but in the end the result was okay.

“But that’s the difference between League One and the Championship. If you sleep for a second you concede a goal and that’s what happened today.

“There’s more structure in the game in this league. We can see that Charlton, like us, were promoted and we both improved.

“We can’t make too many mistakes in this league and, if we concede goals, it will be hard to win games, but I think it was a good point today and we can take confidence from this game into the next game on Tuesday.”