Barnsley survive despite Fryatt’s punishing treble

Safe from relegation following third-bottom Coventry City’s defeat at home to Millwall last night, Keith Hill’s men are nevertheless locked in a miserable run that, despite a valiant second-half display against Hull City, shows little sign of ending any time soon.

Matty Fryatt’s second hat-trick of his Tigers career was enough to condemn the Reds to a 10th defeat in 13 games, a run of form that in any normal season would have left the South Yorkshire club deep in trouble.

This term, however, the failings of others have saved Barnsley with the 50-point tally every Championship manager sets as the first target for his side before a ball has been kicked set to prove beyond a host of teams.

It means Tykes fans can breathe easily this morning. They need, though, look no further than neighbours Doncaster Rovers for a warning as to how a shocking end to one campaign can lead to further problems the following year.

Last season, Rovers won just one of their final 19 games and while Barnsley’s slump in form this time around cannot match that unenviable record, the warning signs are still there for all to see.

There are, of course, mitigating circumstances for the Reds’ implosion with star man Jacob Butterfield having not played since the turn of the year due to injury.

The January sale of Ricardo Vaz Te to West Ham United, still the club’s top scorer with 12 goals, hardly helped matters either.

But, even so, Hill has a big summer ahead to ensure that his side do not follow the example of Doncaster, who will next August be kicking off in League One after a wretched 2011-12.

For Hull, meanwhile, the picture is much more encouraging, even allowing for the disappointment still felt at the KC Stadium over how the club’s play-off challenge came off the rails recently via five straight defeats.

As the Tigers again underlined in heavy conditions, Nick Barmby’s squad is developing nicely and with key additions in the close season then the East Riding club may well be ready to make a concerted push for the Premier League next time around.

Goalscoring – and, more specifically, an inability to convert even a decent proportion of chances created – has been a major problem for Hull, as a ratio of just under one per game shows.

For the opening 37 minutes against Barnsley, Hull’s season was pretty much summed up as they failed to capitalise on a host of chances.

Fryatt was the first to waste an excellent opening on five minutes when, after being picked out by a deft pass from Robert Koren, Hull’s top scorer slipped at the vital moment to scuff a shot straight at David Button.

A minute later, Barnsley had again been carved open by the Koren-Fryatt combination but this time Lee Collins managed to get in the way of the Slovenian midfielder’s shot.

Button’s post next came to the visitors’ rescue when Corry Evans saw his scooped shot curl against the upright after the Northern Ireland international had been found by Cameron Stewart.

Hull were unfortunate in that instance but the same could not be said on 26 minutes when Richard Garcia inexplicably spurned the chance to shoot into what was an open goal after Button’s clearance had cannoned against the heel of Nathan Doyle.

Instead, the Australian opted to take another touch which allowed the Barnsley defence to regroup – much to the angst of the home fans in the 16,604 crowd, the KC’s lowest of the season.

A double save from Button on the half-hour to deny Tom Cairney and Fryatt in quick succession only added to the growing sense of frustration before the breakthrough finally arrived eight minutes before the interval.

Again, Barnsley had found it impossible to clear their lines and when Stewart drove a low cross into a busy six-yard box, Fryatt was on hand to convert from close range.

On the balance of play, Hill’s side could not complain about falling behind but their appeal for offside against Fryatt did appear valid.

There could, though, be no complaints about Hull’s second goal on the stroke of half-time as slack marking allowed Fryatt to again finish from six yards out after latching onto Garcia’s pass.

Barnsley, whose best chance of the first half had seen Andy Gray denied by Vito Mannone, were much improved after the interval.

Jim O’Brien should have done a lot better than fire high and wide after being left in space by the home defence, and on the hour Scott Wiseman was left furious by referee Paul Tierney’s failure to award a penalty when Andy Dawson clearly blocked his attempted cross with a hand.

Dawson then kept out a shot from Kallum Higginbotham by more orthodox means but Barnsley would not be denied the goal their second-half display had merited. It came 16 minutes from time courtesy of a near post header from Andy Gray.

Any hopes, however, that only their fifth goal in 13 outings would lead to the rescuing of a point were dashed when Fryatt jinked his way through two attempted challenges to claim not only the points but also the match ball.

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Hull City: Mannone; Rosenior (Brady 81), Cooper, Chester, Dawson; Cairney (McKenna 66), Evans; Garcia, Koren, Stewart (King 63); Fryatt. Unused substitutes: Cracknell, Bradley.

Barnsley: Button; Wiseman, Foster (Dawson 46), Collins, McNulty; O’Brien (Higginbotham 59), Doyle, Cotterill (Noble-Lazarus 64), Perkins; Davies, Gray. Unused substitutes: Nouble, Tonge.

Referee: P Tierney (Lancashire).