Leeds United 1 Barnsley 0: Hill is left fuming as Tykes pay penalty for ref mistake

Certainly, those locals sitting behind the dugouts at Elland Road felt that was the case, as was evident by the number who sarcastically returned the clapping along with a few mouthfuls of abuse for good measure.

Later, however, the 43-year-old Barnsley manager was at pains to stress his intended target had been the officials before adding: “It was great banter with the Leeds fans but it was the referee and his assessor I was looking for, not them.”

That the natives felt the irony-laden gesture had been aimed in their direction as well as the referee’s was down to not only Hill’s pre-match call for Deadman to be strong in the face of inevitable intimidatory tactics from the Elland Road crowd but also a truly woeful 45-minute display by the Cambridgeshire official.

If Deadman could get a decision wrong during that first half, he invariably did so so with his most contentious call – the 42nd-minute awarding of a penalty that Luciano Becchio gratefully converted – being the one that ultimately condemned the Reds to defeat.

No wonder, therefore, that the partisan locals sitting in Hill’s vicinity felt his gesture had been for their benefit.

For Warnock, meanwhile, the penalty award and subsequent finish from 12 yards by United’s top scorer meant his side were able to prevail despite being distinctly second best for long periods of the afternoon.

That United did emerge triumphant was thanks to a combination of wasteful finishing on the part of the visitors and Becchio claiming his ninth goal of the season with the type of audacious penalty that looks wonderful when it goes in but lamentable if saved.

Happily for the Argentinian, Reds goalkeeper Ben Alnwick failed to read his intentions and had dived to the left a split second before the ball set off on its looping route towards the centre of the goal.

Warnock admitted afterwards, “I’d have killed him if he’d missed”. As it was, the United manager had only words of praise for not only Becchio but also all 13 of the players in white who fought so hard to claim the club’s first win over Barnsley in seven attempts.

He said: “I don’t think there was any luck involved at all. The harder you work, the luckier you get. I have always thought that.

“They all dug in brilliantly. The number of times people put in a tackle or blocks to keep the goal intact, that was not an accident. It is team spirit. And the way things have gone against Barnsley in the last few years, I would take a scrappy 1-0 win any time.

“It is amazing what you can do with genuine players. From one to 17 (on my team-sheet), I can trust everyone. There is maybe only El-Hadji Diouf that you are never totally sure about. But you need a match winner or someone like him.

“As a team, we do look in very good shape. We dug in brilliantly and just needed that little bit of help.”

The “help” Warnock chose to allude to in the wake of Leeds extending their unbeaten run to five games was, of course, the penalty award for a foul on Lee Peltier by Stephen Foster that so incensed Hill.

Referee Deadman was right in penalising the defender. The problem was that the tackle had taken place a couple of steps outside the area.

Whether an earlier appeal for handball in the Reds’ area being turned down or the vociferous appeal of the home crowd made a difference is something only the official can answer. But it was a poor decision.

Considering how well Barnsley had played up until the goal, going in at the break behind would have been harsh even without the fortuitous manner of United’s goal.

Passing the ball at pace and with purpose, the visitors had torn into Leeds from the start and but for wayward finishing would have been firmly in control by the time Becchio beat Alnwick.

Jacob Mellis was the main culprit, the midfielder somehow side-footing wide after being picked out unmarked by Craig Davies in the fifth minute. He then compounded that miss with another poor effort, this time lobbing the ball into the hands of a grateful Paddy Kenny after David Perkins had opened up United with a defence-splitting pass.

In between Mellis’s two spurned opportunities, Barnsley were also left to rue another couple of chances going begging as Marlon Harewood dragged an inviting free-kick wide and Davies being unable to capitalise on good approach play by Thomasz Cywka and Scott Golbourne.

Warnock’s response to his side being given the runaround in the opening quarter was to change formation as Aidy White moved from the right flank to the left and Scott Byram pushed forward into midfield to leave a back three of Peltier, Jason Pearce and Tom Lees.

The switch helped to stem the tide of Barnsley attacks but, even so, until the penalty award just before the break, the hosts had rarely threatened.

Matters did improve after half-time for Leeds as Rodolph Austin shot straight at Alnwick and Diouf sent over an inviting cross that was begging one of his team-mates to apply the final touch.

But Barnsley continued to look the more accomplished in possession and Leeds had Kenny to thank for keeping out a Harewood effort just after the hour at point-blank range.

Kenny was also called on to rescue his side at the death when keeping out a Bobby Hassell header, a save that ensured Leeds claimed their first win over the Reds since an FA Cup third round victory in 2001.