Rejuvenated Barnsley leave Middlesbrough looking in a sorry state

Shortly after Conor Chaplin had settled this contest well into the second half, the Pontefract Road end indulged in a chorus of the club’s signature song – Bob Marley’s classic Three Little Birds.

Singing ‘Don’t worry about a thing because every little thing gonna be all right.’

It is a refrain that has not been sung too much in this campaign.

Of course, it remains to be seen if it will be all right by the time Barnsley’s players leave the field at Griffin Park on May 2.

But Saturday’s bellwether episode was an indication that Barnsley are still at the races and the heart is beating. Where there was discord, there is now a brief interlude of harmony.

This was a win which lacked the va-va-voom of those astonishing events at Fulham seven days earlier. In terms of substance, it was far more important.

When you are down among the dead men, matches against a direct rival – which Middlesbrough should now be classed as for Barnsley – are rarely scintillating and are tests of nerve, character, organisation and togetherness.

Invariably, the scorelines are tight and success in these sort of fixtures can make the difference when judgments are made.

Middlesbrough showed their mettle in the rain on Teesside 87 days earlier. Here, at a more critical juncture of the season with the starting gun about to be fired for the run-in, Barnsley’s bottle in similarly weather-ravaged conditions carried more weight.

It was the sort of game that Barnsley have not won enough of this season. Finding a way without being brilliant.

As Gerhard Struber correctly opined, duels were won all over the pitch. Barnsley were defensively sound and displayed all the energy and urgency and had the game’s class act in Alex Mowatt.

It was the sort of team performance that enables coaches to sleep soundly at night.

The Austrian said: “In every single duel, we were the winners.

“The attitude and energy together was amazing. I was very proud of my team and I hope we can bring this energy in the next few weeks. Then, it will be very difficult for the other opponents.

“Every single player trusted each other and it makes it a little easier. I think the best moment is coming. We have a good feeling for the next games.”

By contrast, Boro were clueless and resembled a polar bear on a piece of receding ice.

In the final instalment of their triple header against the bottom three, they plumbed the depths.

Fortunate to draw at Wigan and awful against Luton, they were atrocious at Barnsley.

It made for a long walk back to the away dressing room for Jonathan Woodgate and his bruised Boro players, who got the treatment from the club’s understandably furious 3,999 travelling contingent at the final whistle.

A chant of ‘You’re not fit to wear the shirt’ was incriminating, if not quite as damning as the chants of ‘Sacked in the Morning’ which reverberated when another Teessider and boyhood fan in Tony Mowbray headed back into the bowels of the North Stand after a similarly rancid Oakwell defeat in October, 2013.

Should Boro serve up another episode akin to this, then their fans may not be so forgiving towards the current incumbent.

Picking up the pieces, Woodgate, who said he did not witness the unsavoury scenes at the end which showed substitute Rudy Gestede gesticulate towards angry supporters, said: “It was an absolutely fantastic support and I do not blame them for being angry and going crazy. I expect that if we do not win games like this.

“We are going to get hard times as the fans are just as frustrated as we are.

“I appreciate all the support that they give the team and they are going to express their opinions to us and we must take it on the chin. We had a big following and did not give them anything.”

In a game of few chances, it was Barnsley who knocked on the door and earned the right.

Mowatt, a constant driving force, went close with a low shot which deflected wide in the first half, with Chaplin also striking an effort just off target before firing straight at Aynsley Pears shortly before the break.

After an inept first half, save from a half-decent opening, Boro continued to labour abjectly, with their front two of Britt Assombalonga and Ashley Fletcher being non-existent, although the supply line was appalling.

Boro – whose sole effort of note saw Lewis Wing see his free-kick deflect wide – looked ripe for the taking and the punishment they merited eventually arrived.

Mowatt’s cross was headed back into the danger zone by Jacob Brown and, after seeing his first effort shudder the crossbar, Chaplin stayed alert to fire home the loose ball.

It was Chaplin’s first goal since a similarly key strike against another struggling Yorkshire rival in Huddersfield in January and it was no laughing matter for Boro.

Heading into the final 10 minutes, Barnsley – seeking their first home clean sheet in 17 matches – were entitled to be nervy.

It was a measure of Boro’s pitiful efforts that the Reds saw the game out with consummate ease.

Barnsley: Collins; J Williams, Halme, Sollbauer; Ludewig; Mowatt, Bahre (Ritzmaier 89), Oduor; Woodrow; Brown; Chaplin (Thomas 82). Unused substitutes: Walton, B Williams, Dougall, Schmidt, Simoes.

Middlesbrough: Pears; Moukodi, Shotton, Friend; Howson, Saville (McNair 79), Wing, Morrison (Coulson 79), Johnson; Fletcher, Assombalonga (Gestede 72). Unused substitutes: Mejias, Clayton, Nmecha, Tavernier.

Referee: G Eltringham (Tyne and Wear).