Derby delight for buoyant Barnsley, but Reds boss will be more worried than Huddersfield Town rival at start of autumn - final word

Conor Hourihane’s Barnsley have made hay while the sun has shone. At the start of September, the Reds manager would be forgiven for looking up to the skies and keeping his fingers crossed.

It remains to be seen if it proves to be the season of mellow fruitfulness for his team after a golden August harvest of 13 points from six league games.

Should Barnsley successfully navigate transfer deadline day and keep their three leading players in Davis Keillor-Dunn, Luca Connell and Adam Phillips, who all underlined their worth – and what the club would miss if they depart – against one of the division’s big-hitters in Huddersfield Town, the outlook looks bright.

More especially if they add a couple to what they already have by the close of business. Do that and there should be more to come from Barnsley this season.

Huddersfield, undeniably, had a bad day in Barnsley. That is all it was: and it happens.

The main match moments, with a needless sending-off for his goalkeeper being top of the list, went against Lee Grant as Town suffered just the second setback of his eight-game watch so far.

It was a frustrating afternoon, for sure. Afterwards, Grant spoke about learning lessons and the like. Equally, there are no dramas.

His side may have lost, but he won’t be the manager worrying about what might be in store on September 1. His winning rival might be.

Grant’s recruitment work is pretty much done unless something tickles Town’s fancy at the death, with their squad depth deadly serious.

Jack Whatmough, a serious centre-half at this level, didn’t even make the match-day squad on Saturday. It’s worth a reminder that Huddersfield also have four players currently out due to injury. There will be no major exits on deadline day either.

Keillor-Dunn signed on the final day of the 2024 summer window and Barnsley punters don't wish to countenance his departure one year on.

After a quiet few games, Hourihane pushed him into more of a central role in a minor tweak which saw David McGoldrick move slightly to the left. It worked nicely.

The half-time guest on derby day was legendary ex-Reds manager Allan Clarke and ‘Sniffer’ would have no doubt enjoyed Keillor-Dunn’s goal prowess in being in the right place to bury a couple of rebounds.

One arrived early on and the other provided gloss late to take his tally at Barnsley to a commendable 23 in 12 months. Hopefully, not too many clubs were watching on Saturday.

Keillor-Dunn's ninth-minute opener owed plenty to a dreadful gaffe from Town custodian Owen Goodman. He inexplicably fumbled a routine-looking centre from Nathanael Ogbeta and DKD was never going to say no.

Goodman had actually displayed a sign of things to come even earlier when he coughed up Connell's shot. It wasn't his day at all, but worse was to come after the Reds opener.

After going behind, Huddersfield did not panic and were well in the game in fairness. Goodman's wild challenge after racing out of goal to try and thwart McGoldrick was a rush of blood which managers cannot legislate for. It was dangerous as well as reckless and the red card was fully justified.

A second home goal just before the break significantly compounded matters when Connell's drive struck the back of Sean Roughlan to wrong-foot Lee Nicholls, who had come on after Ruben Roosken was sacrificed.

With a man advantage and a 2-0 lead, Barnsley did not have to force the issue and needed to stay professional. They did.

Creditably, Town did not throw in the towel and their attitude and togetherness was strong as they kept Barnsley's backline honest.

Unstinting backing from the packed-out 4,831-strong away following also helped, with those in blue and white sensibly cottoning onto the fact that the visitors were having a bad day, but nothing else.

Keillor-Dunn would eventually pounce after Nicholls parried a daisy-cutter from Phillips, a player who always provides in such games.

There was still time for Joe Taylor to nip in and net a consolation after Ogbeta sold Murphy Cooper short with a backpass.

Hourihane was irked at not keeping a clean sheet, but it was a minor concern. If today goes well, he may just have forgotten by tomorrow.

Barnsley: Cooper; Watson, Shepherd, Earl, Ogbeta (De Gevigney 89); Bland (Kelly 69), Connell; Vickers, Phillips, Keillor-Dunn; McGoldrick (Farrugia 69). Unused substitutes: Flavell, Russell, Cleary.

Huddersfield Town: Goodman; Gooch (Sorensen HT), Feeney, Low, Roughan; Ledson, Kane (Kasumu 71); Harness, Wiles (Castledine 78), Roosken (Nicholls 38); May (Taylor HT). Unused substitutes: Wallace, Ashia.

Referee: E Duckworth (Lancs).