Birch the hero as Tykes beat Plymouth

At last, Reds fans can read the Sunday sports pages with a smile. After four draws and one defeat in his first five matches, Paul Hart finally saw his team clinch three points. The victory against promotion-bound Plymouth was  thoroughly deserved even though, as ever, Barnsley made life difficult for themselves.

Mr Tannoy man (not his real name obviously) has used the phrase “making his home debut” on at least 149 occasions this season, and it could be heard again on Saturday as Gary Birch joined the long-list of 2003-04 Oakwell debutants. (It should also be noted that Mr Tannoy man also entertained the crowd with “classic hits” by Showaddywaddy, Rick Astley, Eddie Cochran, EMF and Survivor. Who the hell picks the records played at Oakwell?) Birch impressed at Swindon last week and the big target man, on-loan from Walsall until the end of the season, partnered Kevin Betsy up front as Danny Nardiello was surprisingly relegated to the bench.

Barnsley started brightly, with Shuker’s pace & movement at the heart of most of the attacks. Unfortunately, and not for the first time this season, the Reds failed to convert their dominance into goals, or even clear cut chances. On countless occasions, attacks broke down at the edge of the opposition penalty area, or came to an end when a disappointing cross sailed straight into the arms of McCormack in the Plymouth goal. Despite enjoying so much possession - Plymouth could barely put an attack together in the opening forty minutes - I can only recall three goalmouth incidents of note: Alex Neil flashing the ball across the six yard box, Birch’s angled drive being tipped over the bar & Shuker shooting over from the edge of the penalty area.

As the half drew to a close, Plymouth finally gave the spectators some indication as to why they are top of the league: first Ian Stonebridge beat Marlon Beresford with a shot from the edge of the box, only to be thwarted by the post, and then Marino Keith (a lovely name that, an amusing combination of the exotic & the dour, like Gianluca Brian or Allesandro Nigel) struck the crossbar from eight yards after the Pilgrims had put together the best move of the match so far.

Game on, then, and the second half produced a more even contest, with both sides going out all for that crucial first goal. Barnsley continued to have the better of things, though, thanks to some solid defending from Ireland & Kay at the back, and an authoritative display from Hayward in midfield. Alex Neil, twice, and then David Murphy tested McCormack before Neil missed a sitter, blasting the ball over the bar from ten yards after a goalmouth scramble.

With ten minutes remaining, and Barnsley fans resigned to a fifth consecutive home game witout a goal, the Reds finally got their reward: Murphy’s inswinging corner was met by Birch who glanced a header past McCormack. With Plymouth pushing men forward for an equaliser, the game swung from end to end and Reds substitute Nardiello almost wrapped it up when he rounded the keeper but saw his shot blocked.

Betsy, having been moved to his rightful position on the right-wing, then embarked upon a mazy run which looked to have culminated in a stunning goal until McCormack threw out an arm to tip his curling effort around the post. Plymouth almost snatched a point in the dying seconds but both Coughlan and Stonebridge were denied when Neil Austin was able to block their close-range efforts.

A merited victory, then, and Paul Hart can be proud of a committed and entertaining display from his team. Difficult to pick out a Man of the Match, but Hayward, Shuker & Neil could all have claims on it. Murphy did well going forward but I'm not overly confident about his defensive capabilities as when Plymouth pushed forward, most of their crosses came from Barnsley's left side. The only other quibble would be the omission of Nardiello from the starting line-up: its no coincidence that when "Nardy" (inspired nickname that) came on & Betsy was moved to the right-wing, we looked much more dangerous. Oh, and for fear of sounding boring Mr Hart, can you drop Jacob Burns and put Chris Lumsdon in please? Burns looks like a trendy young thing with his ear to all that's trendy in the hit parade so maybe he could be the "tannoy man" for the next game? Just a thought.