Coca Cola Championship Matchday Forty Six: Plymouth Argyle 1-2 Barnsley

Well we did it and in the end the three points were not even required as Norwich capitulated in the first half against already relegated Charlton.

The mathematics at 1.15pm was simply. If The Reds avoided defeat they would secure Championship safety for a third successive year, but if Barnsley lost down in Devonshire and Norwich won at rock bottom Charlton then Barnsley would be back in League One for the first time since 2006.

It promised to be a nervy day and the temperature was cranked up just 12 minutes in when The Reds fell behind from their Achilles heel- a set-piece.

Paul Gallagher swung in a corner and The Reds defence just stood static whilst Gary Sawyer looped his header past a stranded Luke Steele. The atmosphere among the near 1700 away fans was of silent shock, but they were cheering within seconds as it emerged Norwich had fallen behind three minutes earlier.

It really was a good job that the Canaries were falling apart at the hands of Barnsley enemy Deon Burton and co as The Reds were woefully poor in the opening exchanges of the first half. They struggled to string two passes together and the newly crowned Plymouth Player of the Year Romain Larrieu was having a comfortable afternoon in goal.
 

It could have been even tenser for the Reds fans who had made the 12 hour round trip after 25 minutes when the ball dropped to Alan Judge six yards out. But his half volley was somehow superbly tipped onto the underside of the crossbar by Luke Steele. Eight minutes later Barnsley were level and all but safe with a goal that came completely out of the blue. Jon Macken took up possession just inside the Plymouth half and he fed Adam Hammill who took a touch before unleashing a cracking right foot effort into the corner from 25 yards. It was the on loan man's first goal for the club and was richly deserved for his efforts since arriving in January.

This goal calmed nerves and as news filtered through that Norwich were 3-1 down before half-time there was a real party atmosphere in the away end at Home Park. Daniel Bogdanovic with his only real contribution of the game nearly put The Reds in front just before half time but his effort fizzed just wide.

With the scores now confirmed to the players it was a complete roles reversal after the break. Plymouth seemed ready for their summer holidays and now safe in the knowledge they didn't have to help Norwich they were happy to see the game out. Barnsley on the other hand seemed determined to reward their travelling support with a victory to sign off with and they were in front within minutes of the restart.

Macken was again at the forefront of the move as he burst into the area, taking ex red Chris Barker and David Gray with him, before slipping the ball through Gray's legs and into the path of Jamal Campbell-Ryce who got himself into double figures with a cool finish past Larrieu.

From then on the match really did have an end of season feel to it. Plymouth had no need to feel guilty for allowing Barnsley to win and The Reds were happy to play out the game with three points secured. They very nearly lost two of them with eight minutes remaining as Judge flashed an effort across the face of goal. With the amount of goals Barnsley have conceded in the last 10 minutes of games this season, it would have been no surprise to see the ball fly in.

But maybe that miss could be the signal of a new dawn…. Or maybe Simon Davey will remain in charge and we'll be biting our fingernails at the bottom yet again!

For now though, we are staying up, say we are staying up!!

Player Ratings:

Luke Steele: Produced a tremendous stop at 1-0 that, if it had gone in, would probably have led to a heavy defeat. He took time at the end of the match to applaud the supporters and throw his gloves into the crowd. I sincerely hope that is not a sign that he is leaving! 8

Rob Kozluk: Was a lot more solid at the back than in recent weeks. Got his head in to win some crucial challenges. 8

Stephen Foster: Davey was right. We don't seem to win without Foster and it was great to see the captain back leading by example. 8

Darren Moore: Apart from one aberration where he tried to DRIBBLE his way out of trouble, he was solid. Don't you dare try that again Darren! 7

Bobby Hassell: Another excellent game! Solid and got forward. 8

Adam Hammill: Was richly deserved that he got a goal before his loan spell ends. Out of all our many loanees this season he has stood out as the best! Hopefully we can tempt him back. Subbed. 7

Anderson De Silva: After a quiet first half he bossed the second half and came close with an overhead kick. 7

Hugo Colace: Solid and unflappable as ever. 7

Jamal Campbell-Ryce: Was easily the Reds biggest threat going forward and his smartly taken winner confirmed him as top-scorer. Guess what he was played on the wing too! Amazing what can happen eh!! 8

Daniel Bogdanovic: He worked hard but struggled to get in the game! Stripped down to his underwear at the end of the game as nearly everything got thrown into the crowd! Subbed. 6

Jon Macken: Might not have scored but its thanks to us we did. Set up both goals and his technique for Campbell-Ryce's was special. Probably deserves one more season at the club. Subbed. 8

Substitutes:

Michael Mifsud (for Macken 84) Its very unlikely The Reds will be looking to keep the Maltese striker on for next season but he showed a lot of willingness when he came on, including chasing the Plymouth defence and goal-keeper into making hasty clearances. 7

Martin Devaney (for Hammill 87) Didn't really have time to make an impact. It will be interesting to see what the future holds for Devaney. This has been the first season since he arrived in 2005 that he's been a bit part player. 5

Mounir El Haimour (for Bogdanovic 90) N/A

Unused Substitutes:

Heinz Muller, Andranik Teymourian

BarnsleyBoy's Man of the Match: Jon Macken: Was as unselfish as ever and set up both goals. Special mention to Steele too.

PLYMOUTH ARGYLE: Larrieu, Duguid, Gallagher, Barker, Sawyer, Seip, Judge (Donnolly 80), Barnes (Noone 58), Fletcher, Gray, Douala (Mackie 49).
Subs: Timar, Clark.

Most Impressed by Plymouth's: Alan Judge: Looked quality on the ball and should have scored twice.

Ref Watch: Clive Penton: Very good game. He knew the importance and let the match flow. No bookings either! 9

Coca Cola Championship Results Sunday 3^rd May 2009:

Burnley 4-0 Bristol City

Charlton 4-2 Norwich (Deon Burton who is probably only behind Chris Morgan and Stephen McPhail on the Oakwell boo list got a hat-trick!)

Crystal Palace 0-0 Sheffield United

Ipswich 2-1 Coventry

Nottingham Forest 3-1 Southampton

Plymouth 1-2 BARNSLEY

Preston 2-1 QPR

Reading 1-2 Birmingham

Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 Cardiff

Swansea 0-1 Blackpool

Watford 3-1 Derby

Wolves 1-0 Doncaster

Barnsley finish in 20^th place in the Coca-Cola Championship with 52 points from 46 games.

We finish 22 points off the Play-Offs, 31 points off the Automatic Promotion Places, 38 points off First place and 6 points above the Relegation Zone.

Up to 4/5/09

Championship Ups and Down 2008-2009

Champions: Wolves

Runners-up Birmingham

Play-Offs: Sheffield United, Reading, Burnley, Preston

Relegated: Norwich, Southampton, Charlton.