Barnsley 2 Leeds United 0: Dagnall has Leeds taped as he finally finds net

It may not have been the most conventional of inspirational methods but, considering Dagnall had scored just once in 25 games prior to Saturday’s Yorkshire derby with Leeds, Flitcroft was desperate to find a spark.

“We’ve worked with this boy at Rochdale, where he got us 24 goals and 22 goals in two seasons,” explained Flitcroft. “He watched that montage before the game and it really focused him.”

That boy finally became a man worthy of the Championship on Saturday with his first two League goals of the season settling a local derby Barnsley should have had wrapped up in the first half.

The managerless Reds made Leeds look like the team bereft of morale with a rousing display that belied the embarrassment of a week spent publically being snubbed.

Leeds may hide behind the excuse of Oakwell being a ground of woe for them in recent seasons, but no-one should allow them to.

This was a listless performance from a Neil Warnock side that began the day two places shy of the top six.

Only Ross Barkley, the Everton loanee on his debut, emerged with any credit, for not only his talent, but his desire, which was sadly lacking from his team-mates.

The game should have been over by half-time with bottom-club Barnsley failing to turn possession into goals.

That they managed to maintain the tempo in the wake of an ounce more urgency from United, spoke plenty about their determination to succeed and fight for their caretaker-manager, no matter how uncertain his tenure was at that stage.

It was also fitting that the man Flitcroft took extra time with in the build-up to the game provided the Lancastrian, 39 today, just rewards for the way he has stepped up to fill in for axed manager Keith Hill.

Dagnall did his bit by first winning a penalty from a clumsy challenge by Sam Byram and then converting it to lift the gloom at Oakwell.

Three minutes later, he timed his run perfectly to meet Marlon Harewood’s weighted pass to shoot first time across Paddy Kenny.

“That’s been coming for a while,” said Dagnall after Barnsley’s first home Championship win since September 1.

“It’s long overdue but, hopefully, that’s the start of a run for me.

“I wasn’t too nervous standing before the penalty. I was very confident that I would score it. I’m not going to get a better chance than a free shot from 12 yards!

“The goal drought hasn’t played on my mind because I was getting chances most weeks and I knew that eventually the ball would find its way into the bottom corner.”

With the departure of leading scorer Craig Davies at the start of a week that saw two managers turn them down – Sean O’Driscoll and Terry Butcher – Barnsley were in need of big performance from one of their strikers.

It was not just Dagnall who excelled, but Harewood, a 33-year-old who has seen better days but who, on Saturday, raised his game to take the fight to Leeds.

Alex Pearce and Alan Tate in the Whites defence could not handle him in the air, or with his back to goal or in any other position.

The partnership the former West Ham striker forged with Dagnall makes the 26-year-old Liverpudlian confident the two of them can fire Barnsley to safety.

“Craig Davies has taken a few goals away with him, so somebody has to step up and me and Marlon can now, hopefully, forge a good partnership,” said Dagnall.

“I like playing with Marlon. He’s the perfect strike partner for me.

“Hopefully, this is the start for me and Marlon to push on and see us out of the relegation zone.

“I’ve always had the belief I could do it in the Championship, it just took a while to show it.”

The two dovetailed intelligently up front but it was the free-running of Jim O’Brien, Stephen Dawson and David Perkins from midfield that had the likes of David Norris, Rodolph Austin and Michael Tonge chasing shadows.

Dawson had a shot parried away by Kenny but it was Barnsley who were quickest to react with Harewood shooting against the post.

That was in the 13th minute and the onslaught continued with McNulty having a header cleared off the line by Austin and then shooting wide, before Dagnall hit the side-netting and then failed to connect with Harewood’s fizzing low cross.

Warnock sent on Paul Green and Ross McCormack for Norris and El Hadji Diouf, and while it added a little more zest, Barkley remained Leeds’s only threat.

Three minutes into the second half, the 19-year-old turned in the penalty area and crashed a shot against the underside of the bar.

It bounced out the wrong side for Leeds but the right one for Barnsley, who turned that fortune to their advantage with two goals in four minutes just after the hour.

McComack was fouled in the build-up to the first, much to the fury of Warnock but play was waved on and Dagnall drew Byram, who naively presented him with a leg to fall over.

Dagnall’s second goal smacked of a man with the confidence coarsing through his veins.

“That was more a performance for the fans, it has been long overdue,” said Dagnall.

O’Brien was stretchered off with a suspected dead leg but there is hope for Barnsley.

Leeds will be glad to see the back of Oakwell but, although they are only five points adrift of the play-offs, they will be left to play out the season in mid-table if they produce many more performances like this.