Reds fail to capitalise before Bristol shake off nerves to beat drop

Bristol City manager Derek McInnes admitted “relief, rather than joy” was the primary emotion as their win ensured Championship football at Ashton Gate next season.

Bristolian Cole Skuse scored his second goal in as many games and a second-half penalty from player-of-the-year Jon Stead sparked scenes of celebration at the end.

Hill, however, said: “Bristol were always going to be nervous on a day that meant so much to them and we needed to capitalise.

“We failed to do so, gave away a bad opening goal from a defensive point of view and failed to make the most of our possession.

“The penalty award seemed harsh, but we had plenty of opportunities to work their goalkeeper and he didn’t make enough saves.

“We failed to track Skuse’s run for their first goal, which was very poor and gave them a lift when we had looked the better side.”

Skuse exchanged passes with Chris Wood before running through to slide a low shot past David Button on 11 minutes.

The home side were gifted a second on 51 minutes when referee Darren Deadman spotted a pull by Jim McNulty on Ryan McGivern’s shirt at a free-kick and pointed to the spot. Stead hammered the penalty past Button.

Barnsley were by far the better side in the first half and carved out a couple of chances before Skuse scored.

Nathan Doyle fired over and Kallum Higginbotham had a deflected shot scrambled around a post by Dean Gerken.

Bristol lost Skuse through injury just before the break but looked more solid in the second half.

Bristol City: Gerken, Foster, Amougou, Fontaine, McGivern, Adomah (Bolasie 77), Skuse (Carey 44), Pearson, Woolford, Stead, Wood (Kilkenny 46). Unused substitutes: James, Ephraim.

Barnsley: Button, Wiseman, Foster, McNulty, Perkins (Collins 79), Higginbotham, Doyle (Tonge 52), Dawson, O’Brien, Davies (Noble-Lazarus 79), Gray. Unused substitutes: Cotterill, Nouble.

Referee: D Deadman (Cambridgeshire).

Man of the match: Martyn Woolford.