Wigan Athletic 2 Barnsley 1: Keeping the faith is tough as Reds hit new low
IT was down and out in Wigan and Barnsley as opposed to Paris and London which was occupying the thoughts of both these Roses combatants in the town made famous by George Orwell.
Barnsley were the ones left dishevelled and on the floor by the end.
A single-digit points haul by the second half of November, their season is currently in pieces. Fifty points seems a long way off.
These lot will give you a chance is the sentence that every opposing League One manager must surely utter when talk turns to Barnsley.
A well-meaning, nice group of boys who say - and hope to do - the right things, Barnsley don’t last the course, unfortunately.
You don't have to play particularly well to beat them and that is a considerable worry.
They have been in most games this season, but eventually err.
Concentration, physicality and sensing danger are all areas where this group are deficient. A disturbing cocktail. They don’t handle pressure, quite simply and their game management is lamentable.
Barnsley have lost their last five away league matches. Their concession of 17 goals in the second half of games is the joint-worst record in the third tier.
The 23rd-placed Reds, only kept off the bottom by goal difference, are winless in nine league matches since September 2. Autumn, certainly on the league front, has been appalling.
Ahead of kick-off, the Monkees "I’m a Believer" got an airing on the Wigan jukebox. Bob Marley’s classic “Three Little Birds” - a song beloved of Barnsley - did the rounds at the final whistle as Wigan escaped the relegation zone after showing the savvy.
Barnsley should be worried about a number of things, for sure.
As is their manager. Keep the Faith is the motto of the Northern Soul movement - another thing associated with Wigan.
Daniel Stendel was clearly struggling on that count in the immediate aftermath of events on Saturday.
He spoke about holding discussions with Reds majority shareholder/chairman Neerav Parekh. Not necessarily about his own position - not yet, anyway - but endeavouring to find ways to support a playing squad who plainly need help.
It was all a bit unclear. It wasn't to do with bringing in more free agents either.
Then what was it? Discussing what Barnsley need to do in the January transfer window should be top of the agenda. Even if it feels some way in the distance.
Make no mistake, if the Oakwell outfit get the winter window wrong, then there is a pretty high chance that they will be playing fourth-tier football next season for the first time since 1978-79 unfortunately.
‘Probably as good a place as we’ve been’, was Gary Caldwell’s pre-match take on Wigan’s mood ahead of this one.
In fairness, his Barnsley counterpart - in his second spell at the club much like the Scot - could have said the same on the back of two healthy cup wins. The league is a different matter, alas.
It was the former whose side would build momentum.
A relatively even first half had one key moment.
Fraser Murray had delivered a warning with his sweet curler producing a full-stretch parry from Ceiran Slicker.
A few minutes later, the Reds custodian had no chance when Murray again showed delicious technique to bend an unstoppable low shot into the far corner, for his first goal of the campaign. An important one.
How the ball arrived at his feet, with Wigan afforded an ocean of space in the middle of the pitch was poor from a Reds perspective. Latics also fancied it out wide against both Ziyad Larkeche and Jubril Okedina.
On the resumption, Barnsley found a much-needed lifeline in front of their admirable band of stoic supporters. Luca Connell found Reyes Cleary - who worried Wigan for most of the afternoon.
He expertly manufactured space before fizzing over a superb low cross which was buried by Cam McGeehan, backing up in the box.
It was classic wing-play from Cleary to present an opportunity on a plate for McGeehan, who struck his ninth goal of the campaign.
Barnsley had their tails up, but - all the while - there was a nagging feeling about what might happen at the other end. The fears were borne out in appalling fashion.
Morgan Fox hung up a cross which was attacked by Jensen Weir. Larkeche, having a poor game, challenged meekly and Weir couldn’t believe his luck.
His header caught Slicker by surprise at the near post as he could only pat the effort into the net, horribly. And that was that. A scruffy concession in a bedraggled season. Sheffield Wednesday next.
Wigan Athletic: Whitworth; Burns, Carragher, Fox; Barrett (Trevitt 68), Weir, Power, Mellish; Burrowes (Miller 87), Murray; Saydee (Hogan 67). Substitutes unused: J Walsh, Chilokoa-Mullen, A Harris, Higgins.
Barnsley: Slicker; Okedina, Gale, Kay, Larkeche (Reid 87); Connell, Johnson (Richards 56); Yoganathan, McGeehan (Noslin 82), Cleary; Kirk (Brownlie 56). Substitutes unused: Ravenhill, Smith, Alker.
Referee: S Parkinson (Berks)