Open house as Barnsley stumble to heavy defeat

THE pubs were back open and Barnsley got into the spirit of things and staged their own version of open house.

This stumbling, dazed performance was the sort that Reds supporters hoped had been consigned to history, but probably inwardly feared might resurface.

Barnsley’s young hearts had run free of late, enjoying the survival fight and showing little fear. But with youth, there are also indiscretions.

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Here, they met an experienced direct rival tooled up with Championship nous and simply could not cope, more especially in the defensive realm.

Barnsley manager Gerhard Struber (centre) walks off dejected. Pictures: PABarnsley manager Gerhard Struber (centre) walks off dejected. Pictures: PA
Barnsley manager Gerhard Struber (centre) walks off dejected. Pictures: PA

For Barnsley, independence day was supposedly about moving out of the bottom three for the first time since mid-September.

Instead, it was a day when they let in three goals in the space of half an hour after previously not conceding for almost five hours.

It was, quite simply, ‘men against boys’ in the first half, as captain Alex Mowatt acknowledged afterwards and an excruciating afternoon all around.

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Ultimately, this game was an unwelcome remainder of two desperate late-season episodes staged not too far away at Derby and Nottingham at the end of the 2017-18 season under Jose Morais – when Barnsley resembled rabbits in headlights in similarly definitive matches.

Stoke City's Nick Powell (left) and Barnsley's Mads Andersen battle for the ball.Stoke City's Nick Powell (left) and Barnsley's Mads Andersen battle for the ball.
Stoke City's Nick Powell (left) and Barnsley's Mads Andersen battle for the ball.

Fortunately, for Barnsley, they have another chance yet. Tomorrow, they go to a Luton side whose own ineptitude ranked alongside the Reds on Saturday when they were also on the receiving end of their own shambolic defeat.

It has the makings of the last-chance saloon for both.

Picking up the pieces, Mowatt, who deflected substitute Tom Ince’s late shot past Jack Walton for a four-goal margin of defeat which Barnsley could not complain about, said: “Getting beaten like that is a tough one to take. We made it very easy for them in the first half by giving away three sloppy goals and we were chasing the game and they just sat in and made it difficult.

“It was embarrassing and we have got to go again on Tuesday and show at least a bit of fight and not make it easy.

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“At half-time, no-one was happy. I personally feel they ran over us and it felt like men against boys. It was frustrating and we cannot let that happen in Championship football.”

Ahead of the game, the pressure was piled onto the shoulders of a Potters side who had plumbed the depths in their 3-0 midweek loss to Wigan, with the local paper stoking up the fires.

They labelled this game as one of the biggest in the club’s history, while one reader’s letter shoved the boot in by suggesting that this was the worst Stoke side they had ever seen.

Manager Michael O’Neill had questioned his side’s hunger and desire beforehand as well and it soon seemed as though his players were listening and keen to do something about it.

Stoke were pumped up and had a smart game plan to match.

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It was based upon getting the ball quickly to front two Sam Vokes and Tyrese Campbell and playing off them and it worked a treat – helped along by some Barnsley defending that had to be seen to be believed.

Both bullied the Reds backline, with Mads Andersen and Ben Williams treading water in particular in a grim first period.

But in truth, every player was cowed into submission in a first half in which minds were frazzled, decision-making was lamentable and Barnsley looked lost and lightweight across the pitch.

The torment began early when Vokes’s movement gave the visiting defence the slip to easily nod home Sam Clucas’s corner.

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It soon got worse when an atrocious concession saw Barnsley – and Andersen – return to their bad old days.

The Dane played a dangerous game in attempting to find Jack Walton with a clearing header, instead of putting the ball out of play and James McClean seized upon the ball in a flash to supply Campbell, whose improvised finish was clever and instinctive.

With their game plan ripped to shreds, Barnsley were stupefied for the remainder of the half, with the body language of Struber, who stood with his arms folded, clearly unhappy, speaking volumes.

Jack Butland’s one meaningful save saw him turn away a drive from Kilian Ludewig, but apart from that, the action was exclusively at the other end.

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There was consternation following a cross-shot from the rampaging Campbell before a third arrived when the unmarked striker struck with a clinical low shot after being picked out by a tidy short corner from McClean.

The defending was reprehensible, with Clucas firing over before a fine save from Walton prevented a fourth before the break when he clawed away Vokes’s header.

The second half was a virtual non-event, with the game over as a competitive entity as Stoke rightly preserved their energy.

Icing was provided late on when Ince fired in a fourth.

In the week, a feel-good award-winning film about a former Stoke City kitman Neil ‘Nello’ Baldwin called Marvellous entertained the nation.

Barnsley’s performance in the Potteries was anything but.

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Stoke City: Butland; Smith, Chester, Batth, Indi; Clucas (Thompson 90), Cousins, Powell (Sorensen 85), McClean (Diouf 89); Vokes (Gregory 71), Campbell (Ince 71). Substitutes unused: Davies, Ward, Shawcross, Collins.

Barnsley: Walton; Sollbauer, Andersen, B Williams (J Williams 45); Ludewig (Oduor 55), Mowatt, Ritzmaier (Styles 45), Thomas; Woodrow (Schmidt 71); Brown (Simoes 45), Chaplin. Substitutes unused: B Collins, Bahre, Halme, Marsh.

Referee: A Woolmer (Northants).

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