Barnsley back on top!

Watched by Peter Ridsdale, who will take over the club next week, Barnsley did enough to maintain their unbeaten league record against a Chesterfield side that lacked a cutting edge.

With better finishing, Roy McFarland's team would have taken something from the match but Caleb Folan and David Reeves failed to take advantage of clear first half openings.

Barnsley's goals came from set pieces and their manager Gudjon Thordarson was delighted at the way his players kept Chesterfield at arms length.

He said: "Our priority this season was to stop losing games cheaply and we have put in place defensive stability." The only worry for Barnsley was a second yellow card which saw midfielder Anthony Kay sent off in the 74th minute after a touchline flare up with Kevin Dawson.

Kay had given Barnsley the lead in the tenth minute when he turned and hooked a left foot shot into the roof of the net after Spireites keeper Carl Muggleton had dropped a free kick.

Barnsley tended to sit too deep after that and they almost paid the price as Chesterfield took control but could not finish.

The Tykes regained their earlier authority in the second half and wrapped up the points when Craig Ireland steered a header inside Muggleton's left hand post from a Steve Hayward corner.

The dismissal of Kay could have left Barnsley with an uncomfortable last fifteen minutes but the visitors were hardly threatened as Chesterfield ran out of steam.

McFarland's side has yet to win a game this season and he knows they have to do better at both ends of the field.

He said: "Whichever way you look at it we are not scoring and we are conceding silly goals.

"We dominated but we did not work their goalkeeper and we lost our way in the last fifteen minutes." Barnsley are flying high and Ridsdale expects his takeover to be rubber stamped in the next few days.

He said: "Our first target is to get out of administration and we will take it from there. The football league has indicated it is delighted with our financial credentials and the structure put in place to buy the club."