'Crazy': Barnsley chief Conor Hourihane rues 'complete moment of madness' as Reds slip up at League One rivals Lincoln City
BITTERLY-disappointed Barnsley head coach Conor Hourihane was left to rue a 'complete moment of madness' after his Reds side fluffed their lines shortly after getting back in the game at League One high-fliers Lincoln City on Tuesday night.
Reeco Hackett puts the Imps ahead on 36 minutes, but Barnsley delivered a strong spell on the restart and went close through top-scorer Davis Keillor-Dunn and League One player of the month for November nominee Reyes Cleary before the former levelled from Jono Bland's cross midway through the second period with his 12th goal of the campaign.
But within seconds, Barnsley went to pieces with Tom Bayliss lobbing Murphy Cooper after running onto George Wickens' routine long ball to restore the hosts’ advantage and Michael Skubala’s side sealed victory three minutes later following another defensive error with Hackett netting his second of the evening - his fifth of the campaign.
Hourihane told BBC Radio Sheffield: "I asked the lads to step it up a couple of gears in the second half because I felt like the game was there for them, even though we were 1-0 down. I didn't really think there was anything in the game.
"Until we scored, we played really, really well and it looked like we were going to score and were on the front foot and then after scoring, we had a complete moment of madness; I don't know what we are doing.
"To concede like that is crazy. I cannot get my head around it and don't know what they were thinking or doing as a team. We've worked so hard to get back in the game at a tough place and I feel like if we see out a couple of minutes, we go back to dominating the ball and creating more chances.
"But we just let them off the hook massively. Just stay solid for two or three minutes.. Regain your composure.
"We gave them the upper hand straightaway, which was crazy. Until the 67th minute at 1-1, I thought we played really well. We had them where we wanted, but we just threw it away."
Barnsley, who find themselves in tenth place in the table, six points behind the side currently occupying the final play-off place in Stevenage, welcome Leyton Orient on Saturday.