BARNSLEY 2 TOWN 1
Vaughan nets in derby defeat
Town’s five match unbeaten run was ended at Oakwell with goals from Chris O’Grady and Marcus Pederson succumbing the Terriers to a 2-1 defeat.
James Vaughan notched his eighth goal of the season as Town tried to stage a second half comeback, but Barnsley held firm to record their first win of the season.
Sean Scannell’s exciting cameo performance against Charlton in midweek was enough to earn him a place in Mark Robins’ starting XI at the expense of Martin Paterson.
There was also a place for U21 defender Tommy Smith on the bench in place of Jack Hunt.
Town were slow out of the blocks at Oakwell and were almost punished when Chris O’Grady tried to bundle his way through, but was blocked well by Anthony Gerrard.
Gerrard and Peter Clarke failed to block the big striker in the eighth minute, though; he was given a yard of space in the box and ruthlessly fired the Tykes into an early lead with a low drive.
The Tykes’ early advantage eventually started to fade as Town’s midfield, led by Adam Clayton, began to boss the game. Oliver Norwood was the first in yellow to shoot in anger at debutant’s Mike Pollitt’s goal. The midfielder picked the ball up from Jake Carroll on the edge of the box before curling just wide of the stopper’s upright.
Clayton then jinked his way past two Barnsley defenders to the by-line but couldn’t find a teammate with his pull back.
Town’s task grew even harder in the 31st minute, though, when Marcus Pedersen was gifted space in the box and made full use of it with a low shot past the diving Alex Smithies.
In an attempt to drag Town back into the game, Mark Robins sent his side out for the second half in a 4-3-3 formation with Hammill moving into attack along with James Vaughan and Scannell.
Clayton and Pederson exchanged drives before Danny Ward was readied and thrown into the action in the 53rd minute.
Town’s top scorer James Vaughan had barely touched the ball in the first half, but his quality almost provided a route back into the game for the visitors. Jean-Yves M’voto failed to deal with a straight long ball and Vaughan’s tenacity gave him half-a-yard ahead of the big defender to shoot just wide.
Vaughan didn’t let his miss affect him, though, and he made amends on the hour mark when he calmly stroked past Pollitt following Clayton’s superb slide rule pass.
That same partnership very nearly drew Town level seven minutes later when Clayton’s chipped pass found Vaughan free in the box, but his first time volley was straight down the throat of Pollitt.
The Terriers continued to knock on the door, but lacked the cutting edge to find what proved to be an elusive equaliser.
Town’s team (3-5-2):
Alex Smithies; Joel Lynch, Peter Clarke (c), Anthony Gerrard; Jake Carroll (Martin Paterson, 76), Adam Clayton, Jonathan Hogg (Jonathan Stead, 88), Oliver Norwood, Adam Hammill; Sean Scannell (Danny Ward, 53), James Vaughan
Unused substitutes:
Ian Bennett; Tommy Smith, Murray Wallace, Oscar Gobern
Bookings Barnsley: Stephen Dawson 14,
Bookings Town: Jonathan Hogg, 62
Attendance: 13,593
Away: 3,888
