Barnsley saw their 11 match unbeaten league run come to an end as they lost at home to Exeter for the second successive season to suffer their first reverse of 2024.
It is the first time since 2019 Barnsley have got to the 27th January before losing their first league game of a calendar year but the first time since 2016 without losing in any competition - that year they didn’t lose until the 13th February.
Barnsley conceded the opening goal at Oakwell for the third time in the last five home outings. Exeter are the seventh side to come to Oakwell in League One this season and score the first goal from 15 games overall (47%)
The opener was scored by Jack Aitchison who netted three goals in 23 appearances for Barnsley between 2020 and 2023, the first ex Red to net against them since Clark Oduor for Bradford in the EFL Trophy in November and the first in a league game since Conor Chaplin for Ipswich in April 2023.
The Grecians doubled their advantage after 31 minutes, the third opponent after Oxford and Portsmouth to go 2-0 up at Oakwell and the second after Pompey to do it in the first half.
They are the third side this season (after Portsmouth and Fleetwood) to score two first half goals against Barnsley at Oakwell - it only happened on two occasions in 2022-2023 (against Bolton and Ipswich) and hasn’t happened as many as three occasions since 2019-2020 (four)
Remarkably this is the first time Barnsley have lost 2-1 at home since March 2021 - against Sheffield Wednesday, they have lost 22 home games in-between by other scorelines.
This was Barnsley's fifth home league defeat of the season - only one less than in the whole of 2022-2023.
Only six League One sides have lost more than five home games so far this season and four occupy the bottom five places in the table.
Due to their excellent away form this was only Barnsley's sixth league defeat overall in 2023-2024, only two sides (Portsmouth and Peterborough with four) have lost less.
It is the lowest number of league defeats they have had by the 27th January since 2019 when they had lost five and only lost a total of seven all season.
Barnsley have now lost three of their last four meetings with Exeter (W1)
They have lost successive Oakwell meetings for the first time ever and the Grecians went 2-0 up in both meetings.
Those two reverses are two of only three games that Exeter have ever won at Oakwell, the other occasion a 4-3 success in May 1977.
Barnsley have now won only one of the last six Oakwell meetings, prior to that they had won four of five Oakwell clashes (D1)
Four of Barnsley's six league defeats have come when they have the majority of ball possession - including this one (the defeats to Peterborough and Portsmouth the exceptions)
Exeter had 10 corners, the most by a Barnsley opponent at Oakwell this season and most at Oakwell since Preston in Barnsley’s final home Championship game in 2021-2022 (also 10)
Barnsley Team:
1. Liam Roberts
6. Mael de Gevigney
41. Jack Shepherd
2. Jordan Williams
3. Jon Russell
22. Corey O’Keeffe
7. Nicky Cadden
30. Adam Phillips
36. Max Watters
45. John McAtee
44. Devante Cole
Substitutes:
17. Barry Cotter (for O’Keeffe 45)
9. Sam Cosgrove (for Watters 45)
48. Luca Connell (for Russell 70)
Unused Substitutes:
23. Ben Killip, 4. Kacper Lopata, 40. Aaron Atkinson, 19. Aiden Marsh.
Exeter Team:
1. Viljami Sinisalo
39. Cheick Diabate
26. Pierce Sweeney
31. Vincent Harper
14. Ilmari Niskanen
12. Reece Cole
6. Tom Carroll
19. Sonny Cox
29. Jack Aitchison
21. Dion Rankine
Substitutions:
5. Alex Hartridge (for Harper 64)
13. Yanic Wildschut (for Cox 70)
16. Harry Kite (for Cole 81)
17. Caleb Watts (for Rankine 81)
23. Kyle Taylor (for Carroll 81)
Unused Substitutes:
30. Shaun MacDonald, 24. Jack Fitzwater.
SkyBet League One Results:
SATURDAY 27TH JANUARY 2024:
BARNSLEY (5th) 1-2 Exeter City (14th)
Aitchison 17
Cole 31
De Gevigney 87
Blackpool (8th) 1-1 Charlton Athletic (18th)
Dembele 53
Ekpiteta og 69
Bristol Rovers (11th) 3-1 Oxford United (7th)
Martin 16
Thomas 22
Harris 58
Vale 77
Cambridge United (16th) 0-0 Burton Albion (17th)
Carlisle United (23rd) 1-4 Bolton Wanderers (2nd)
Ashworth 31
Maghoma 36
Gibson 71
Dempsey 90+1
Ogbeta 90+7
Derby County (4th) 2-1 Cheltenham Town (22nd)
Sercombe 50
Bird 60
Collins 81
Lincoln City (12th) 0-0 Peterborough United (3rd)
Northampton Town (9th) 0-2 Shrewsbury Town (15th)
Udoh 57
Dunkley 75
Port Vale (20th) 0-1 Portsmouth (1st)
Bishop pen 88
Reading (21st) 1-1 Leyton Orient (10th)
Agyei pen 19
Knibbs 23
Wigan Athletic (13th) 2-3 Stevenage (6th)
Magennis pen 5
Reid 15
Aasgaard 38
Piergianni 66
Thompson 81
Wycombe Wanderers (19th) 2-2 Fleetwood Town (24th)
Omochere 14
Stockley 31
McCleary pen 62
Kone 83
Barnsley lie in 5th place in Sky Bet League One with 52 points from 28 games. We are 3 points inside the Play-Offs, 5 points off the Automatic Promotion Places, 7 points off First Place and 25 points above the Relegation Zone.
Up to 27/1/24
Next Up:
On The Road:
Sky Bet League One Matchday Twenty Nine: Bolton Wanderers v Barnsley, Saturday 3rd February 2024. Kick Off: 3pm
At Oakwell:
Sky Bet League One Matchday Thirty: Barnsley v Leyton Orient, Saturday 10th February 2024. Kick Off: 3pm