The Revival continues as Stockport are beaten at Oakwell

A tenth minute strike from Bruce Dyer proved just enough to lift Barnsley seven points clear of the danger zone. The result leaves County in real trouble at the bottom of the table, and the visiting fans responded by calling for the sacking of manager Carlton Palmer at the final whistle.

Barnsley controlled the game in the opening period and should have been two or three up by half-time but, as has so often been the case this season, the Reds failed to convert a number of decent chances. That said, the goal when it came was one of real quality: Anthony Kay played a slide rule pass to split the County defence, and Dyer took a touch before rifling home a low shot from the edge of the penalty area.

Despite their early dominance, the Reds had a lucky escape on fourteen minutes when ex-Barnsley striker Luke Beckett was given time and space to turn in the penalty area, but could only lash his shot into the side netting. This proved to be Beckett’s sole opportunity to add to the 25 goals that he has scored already this season; his only other contribution of note came when he hacked down Neil Austin, who had been shepherding the ball as it ran out for a goal kick. Beckett was fortunate that the referee produced only a yellow card.

Having taken an early lead, Barnsley continued to cause the Stockport defence numerous problems. Gary Jones’ low shot forced a scrambled save by County keeper Tidman on twenty five minutes, and the keeper then thwarted Mike Sheron when Dyer’s flick on gave the in-form striker a clear run on goal. Donovan fired over when he should have done better but David Mulligan was guilty of the miss of the half when he failed to convert Jones’ low centre from all of three yards.

The second half soon developed into a scrappy affair and the visitors slowly began to stamp their authority on the game. County’s Gibb and Lambert took control in midfield, and Barnsley began to defend deeper and deeper in order to protect their narrow lead. Frustrating as this was for the home supporters, the Reds never really looked threatened and the back three of Austin, Kay and Morgan dealt superbly with the numerous long balls that County threw forward.

Barnsley could have clinched the game when Kevin Betsy, a substitute for the disappointing Sheron, got to the byline and pulled the ball back for the incoming Jones, who appeared to be pushed in the back by Dave Challinor (he of the ridiculous long throw that almost won Tranmere the Worthington Cup a few seasons back). The referee ignored Barnsley’s penalty appeals, and did so again a few minutes later when Betsy tumbled under Rob Clare’s challenge. There did look to have been some contact, but Betsy’s elaborate and theatrical fall gave the referee no option but to book the Reds striker for diving.

County continued to enjoy the lion’s share of possession, but failed to break down the Barnsley defence. Lambert went close when his well struck shot was deflected over the bar but Marriott remained untested. Betsy was at the heart of Barnsley’s increasingly rare attacks, and he should have scored in the dying minutes when Morgan's long ball and a mix-up in the County defence left him with an open goal from around twenty five yards out. Betsy’s weak effort was scrambled away, setting the Reds up for a nervy four minutes of injury time.

Barnsley had ten men behind the ball at this stage, and their hard work was almost undone in the ninety third minute when Challinor’s cross was headed goalwards by Jon Daly. Fortunately for the Reds, the ball struck the upright and rebounded to safety. The referee blew his whistle a minute later to a collective sigh of relief from the Barnsley faithful.

So, a just about deserved three points from a game that was as scrappy as you might expect from two teams hoping to avoid the drop to the third division. As the cliché goes its points, not performances that matter at this stage of the season and this result undoubtedly gives the Reds a bit of breathing space in the relegation dogfight. However, we did make life difficult for ourselves by wasting a number of chances, particularly in that opening period which should have seen Stockport dead and buried by half-time. Given our narrow lead, it was inevitable that County would come back at us in the second half, but we failed to cope with them, particularly in midfield. With Mitch Ward having an awful game, we badly needed a leader in the middle of the park, someone to take control of the proceedings. Without this, we retreated into defensive-mode, a policy which could have been disastrous had Daly’s header gone in off the post rather than away from the goal.

At the same time, it should be stressed that this was County’s only real effort of note, thanks to the solidity of our defensive back three. The man of the match award went to Anthony Kay, who turned in a season best performance: he defended well, but his distribution, in particular, was superb. Apart from creating the goal, he passed the ball superbly throughout and always looked comfortable in possession. On this evidence, Kay, a player brought through the ranks as a midfielder, is a real find at centre-half.