Barnsley put themselves right back in the survival mix with only their sixth home win of the season (still the joint lowest in the Championship)
They accompanied this with yet another clean sheet – their sixth in eight games either side of the lockdown.
It is as many clean sheets as they had managed in the previous 50 Championship games.
Prior to this run they had kept only three in 32 Championship outings.
Those six shutouts have come in two three game blocks either side of defeats to Reading and Cardiff, it is the first time Barnsley have kept three successive clean sheets on two separate occasions in the second tier since 1994-1995.
Mads Andersen has been in the side for six of the nine clean sheets.
Jack Walton kept his fifth clean sheet in just eight starts for the club.
It was the 14th league match to be goal-less at half time this season, and only the second time the Reds have gone on to win – also v Middlesbrough (W2 D5 L7).
It is the first time a Barnsley match has been 0-0 at the break and the Reds have gone on to win by two goals since Southend away in March 2019 (3-0) and the first at this level since September 2016 when they scored four second half goals at Wolves.
Conor Chaplin broke the deadlock just two minutes after coming off the bench, the first substitute to score for the Reds since Elliot Simoes at Derby 16 games ago (all comps)
It is the quickest goal by a substitute since Patrick Schmidt scored in the first minute after coming on against Stoke in November (82nd minute)
The goal was set up by a fine right wing cross from Kilian Ludewig who had also come on just two minutes prior – the first time a goal was assisted and scored by substitutes since the 2-1 win at Millwall in December when Luke Thomas set up Patrick Schmidt’s last minute winner (the only two substitutions made by Gerhard Struber in that game)
It meant that Chaplin has scored both home and away against Blackburn this season, becoming the second Barnsley player to score against the same opponent in both league matches after Cauley Woodrow against Charlton.
Ben Brereton was shown his marching orders for Blackburn just six minutes after entering the pitch, only the second red card in a Barnsley game this season following Ben Williams at Wigan at the end of August and the first Barnsley opponent to be dismissed since Fleetwood’s Harry Souttar in April 2019.
It is the first Barnsley opponent to be sent off in the Championship since QPR’s Ryan Manning in February 2018.
Barnsley have won five matches in a row when their opponent’s have had a man sent off, with that QPR game the last time they failed to do so with a man advantage.
Cauley Woodrow has now gone five matches without a goal, his longest drought since making his debut in November 2018.
Barnsley have now won four of their last seven league matches, as many as they had in their previous 31 games.
Barnsley won a midweek match (Tuesday or Wednesday) for only the second time in 13 such outings.
In two of their three matches since the end of lockdown Barnsley have conceded 60% ball possession – yet won both of those games.
It is however the first they have had less than 50% ball possession at Oakwell since Swansea were the visitors in October (also 40%-60%)
Barnsley have now won three of their last four meetings with Blackburn (L1) with all three victories coming via a 2-0 scoreline. Prior to this they had lost four of five.
Remarkably this is the first time they have won successive home games against Rovers.
Barnsley Team:
13. Jack Walton
2. Jordan Williams
6. Mads Andersen
3. Ben Williams
41. Romal Palmer
18. Michael Sollbauer
27. Alex Mowatt
17. Marcel Ritzmaier
28. Elliot Simoes
7. Jacob Brown
9. Cauley Woodrow
Substitutes:
20. Callum Styles (for Palmer 37)
14. Kilian Ludewig (for J.Williams 56)
11. Conor Chaplin (for Simoes 56)
16. Luke Thomas (for Ritzmaier 56)
19. Patrick Schmidt (for Woodrow 80)
Unused Substitutes:
24. Aapo Halme, 40. Brad Collins, 22. Clarke Odour, 10. Mike Bahre.
Blackburn Team:
1. Christian Walton
31. Elliot Bennett
24. Tosin Adarabioyo
14. Charlie Mulgrew
2. Ryan Nyambe
8. Joe Rothwell
19. Stewart Downing
4. Bradley Johnson
7. Adam Armstrong
12. Dominic Samuel
22. Lewis Holtby
Substitutions:
20. Ben Brereton (for Samuel 67)
10. Danny Graham (for Armstrong 68)
18. Jacob Davenport (for Holtby 68)
9. Sam Gallagher (for Rothwell 68)
11. Harry Chapman (for Bennett 83)
Unused Substitutes:
41. Hayden Carter, 44. Jack Vale, 13. Jayson Leutwiler, 6. Richard Smallwood.
Blackburn manager Tony Mowbray said:
"We lost the game because we didn't take our chances in the first half. Goals change games, as we've found out in the last two games.
"We were one point off the play-offs and now we've lost to two teams we should have been beating. Life looks pretty tough from this point onwards.
"We have to stick together, we have to take the positives. We win and lose together."
Match Reports:
Sky Bet Championship results
TUESDAY 30TH JUNE 2020
Millwall 1-1 Swansea City
Bennett 21
Bialkowski og 66
BARNSLEY 2-0 Blackburn Rovers
Chaplin 58
Brown 76
Cardiff City 0-0 Charlton Athletic
Reading 0-3 Brentford
Mbeumo 23
Dasilva 64
Castillo 90
Queens Park Rangers 1-2 Fulham
Hugill 1
Arter 21
Christie 75
Leeds United 1-1 Luton Town
Cornick 50
Dalles 63
Wigan Athletic 3-0 Stoke City
Butland og 40
Naismith 65
Naismith 68
WEDNESDAY 1ST JULY 2020
Preston North End 0-1 Derby County
Rooney 18
Birmingham City 0-3 Huddersfield Town
Grant pen 10
Campbell 51
Kachunga 72
Nottingham Forest 1-0 Bristol City
Silva 62
Sheffield Wednesday 0-3 West Bromwich Albion
Austin pen 37
Costa Pereira 58
Costa Pereira 85
THURSDAY 2ND JULY 2020
Hull City 2-1 Middlesbrough
Assombalonga pen 4
Kane 8
Wilks 90+1
Barnsley lie in 23rd place in the Sky Bet Championship with 41 points from 40 games. We are 20 points outside the Play-Offs, 33 points outside the Automatic Promotion Places, 34 points outside First Place and 3 points inside the Relegation Zone.
Up to 2/7/20
Next Up:
On The Road:
Sky Bet Championship Matchday Forty One: Stoke City v Barnsley, Saturday 4th July 2020. Kick-Off: 3pm
At Oakwell:
Sky Bet Championship Matchday Forty Three: Barnsley v Wigan Athletic, Saturday 11th July 2020. Kick-Off: 3pm