Chester 0 Barnsley 3: Jennings’s double helps Wilson celebrate in style

The Reds have endured a difficult year in the second coming of the man who nearly two decades ago took them into the Premier League.

Wilson was unable to save them from relegation from the Championship last term, despite having more than half a season to try to lift them out of the bottom three.

And they have not adjusted well to life in the third tier, winning only six of their 20 games.

A goalless draw with resilient Conference side Chester City at Oakwell 11 days ago had merely heightened the growing concern about the direction the club were headed.

Barnsley chief executive Ben Mansford told The Yorkshire Post in the wake of that disappointing draw that Wilson remained the man to take the club forward.

But there is no telling what a defeat here last night to a team two divisions below them, who hover between part-time and professionalism, would have done.

However, a performance befitting their superior status, allied to some clinical finishing from Dale Jennings, rendered such musings redundant.

The victory means Barnsley will host Championship high-fliers Middlesbrough on the first weekend of January, and the second year under the second spell of Barnsley will start in upbeat fashion.

The manager will also celebrate the landmark of his 1,000th game as a manager on Saturday against Leyton Orient in a far more comfortable position.

His Barnsley side were dominant from the first minute and could have had more than Kane Hemmings’s opener and Jennings’s second-half double.

Barnsley’s midfield of James Bailey and Conor Hourihane 
enjoyed plenty of space in the centre of the field and it was that supply line that created the opening goal on 16 minutes.

Luke Berry had already had a measured volley blocked by Michael Kay when, from a quick free-kick just inside the Chester half, he worked the ball forward to Peter Ramage.

The advanced centre-back cut inside and curled a shot goalwards that hit a defender and bounced up to Hemmings.

Without hesitation the striker lashed a left-foot shot into the roof of the net from 12 yards to 
silence the expectant home crowd.

Jennings had a glorious chance to double the lead moments later when Devante Cole raced at the heart of the Chester defence and played the ball across goal to the winger, who could only take a touch and blaze the ball wide.

Former Sheffield United youth captain Kingsley James then lashed a volley wide on the half-hour mark, Chester’s first sight of Ross Turnbull’s goal.

Barnsley continued to create chances though and only a flying save from Jon Worsnop 
denied the visitors’ Hourihane from 25 yards.

Worsnop – wearing a mask to protect the broken cheekbone he suffered in the fifth minute of the first game – could then only parry a fizzing drive by Jennings that skidded off the slick turf in front of him.

Wilson’s men had a legitimate claim for a penalty shortly before the break when Martin Cranie appeared to be felled by John Rooney, but referee Keith Hill waved away the requests.

For all their dominance of midfield and chances created, Barnsley should have had the tie sewn up by half-time.

A golden opportunity for Ben Heneghan, when he was inches away from getting a boot on Craig Hobson’s flicked header, showed just how slender an advantage they held.

And with refereeing decisions going against them – Matty Brown clearly using his arm to block Jennings’s shot – the need to take fortune out of the equation was growing for Barnsley.

This they did on 63 minutes with a smartly-worked goal.

Mason Holgate fed the ball towards Cole who stepped over it to create space for Hemmings, who in turn played in Jennings.

The former Bayern Munich 
reserve had been arcing in from the left with menace all night and he finally got it right this time, curling a first-time shot beyond the reach of Worsnop.

Chester’s Gareth Roberts whipped in an inviting cross from the left that Hobson powered wide from six yards as Chester briefly threatened

But Jennings capped a fine night with a jinking run that left defenders in his wake, before he once again guided the ball beyond Worsnop.

Chester City: Worsnop; Kay, Brown, Charnock, G Roberts; Heneghan (Greenop 66), James, Rooney, Mahon, McConville, Hobson (Winn 89). Unused substitutes: C Roberts, Touray, Harrison, Menagh, Blake.

Barnsley: Turnbull; Holgate, Cranie, Ramage, Brown; Berry, Hourihane, Bailey (Digby 89), Jennings (Boakye-Yiadom 90); Hemmings, Cole (Lita 83). Unused substitutes: Davies, Treacy, Digby, Abbott, Cowgill.

Referee: K Hill (Hertfordshire).