Barnsley opened a four point gap to the play-off chasing pack with their fifth straight league victory.
It is the first time they have won five league games in a row since a run of seven in the Championship between 14th February and 6th March 2021.
It is the first time they have achieved it at this level since another run of seven between 28th December 2015 and 7th February 2016.
The Reds have won seven of their last eight matches in all competitions with the one blip between a Papa John’s Trophy exit to Port Vale.
Indeed they have won 12 of their last 17 matches in all competitions – prior to this they had won 12 of 68.
This is the third time the club have put a run of at least three successive wins together (all comps) in 2022-2023, the first time they have done this in the same season since doing so on five occasions in 2018-2019.
Devante Cole scored both goals, his first double since netting a brace for Motherwell in the Scottish Premiership in March 2021.
It is the first league brace by a Barnsley player since Amine Bassi against Middlesbrough in February.
Barnsley have scored 2+ goals in three successive league games for the first time since February/March 2021.
This was Barnsley’s 12th clean sheet of the season, nine of which have come in the league. Their tally of 16 goals conceded in 20 League One matches is the lowest in the division whilst in the Football League only Leyton Orient in League Two (12) have conceded less this season.
This was Barnsley’s first victory in four meetings with Burton (W1 D1 L2) – prior to this they were unbeaten in all six meetings.
The Reds have kept clean sheets in six of their 10 clashes with the Brewers.
Despite failing to score Burton had three shots on target, the most by an opponent in the league in 11 outings since Cambridge had four on the 17th September (they also failed to score)
Both Barnsley and Burton committed nine fouls, the first time the Reds and their opponents have committed the same amount of fouls in a league game since February (QPR 11 each)
There were only 9,423 supporters in attendance, the lowest Oakwell league crowd of the season so far.
Barnsley Team:
40. Brad Collins
24. Robbie Cundy
6. Mads Andersen ©
5. Liam Kitching
8. Herbie Kane
2. Jordan Williams
33. Matty Wolfe
48. Luca Connell
7, Nicky Cadden
9. James Norwood
44. Devante Cole
Substitutes:
27. Jack Aitchison (for Wolfe 58)
29. Fabio Jalo (for Norwoos 74)
14. Josh Martin (for Cole 89)
Unused Substitutes:
1. Jack Walton, 15. Jasper Moon, 18. Joe Ackroyd, 26. Ziyad Larkeche.
Burton Team:
1 Ben Garratt
2. John Brayford
5. Sam Hughes
15. Corrie Ndaba
37. Tom Hamer
23. Terry Taylor
4. Adedeji Oshilaja
12. Tyler Onyango
45. Joe Dodoo
14. Victor Adeboyejo
39. Bobby Kamwa
Substitutions:
11. Jonny Smith (for Kamwa 45)
3. Cameron Borthwick-Jackson (for Ndaba 76)
21. Mustapha Carayol (for Onyango 76)
Unused Substitutes:
6. Calum Butcher, 8. Adrian Mariappa, 10. Davis Keillor-Dunn, 24. Viljami Sinisalo.
Burton manager Dino Maamria said:
"Today we came up against a tough team, at a tough place to come, and I thought we controlled the first half-hour really well. We were comfortable, created really good chances to score but didn't, and gave them two really easy goals and that's the disappointing thing.
"It's an area we have to address and we're working on that every week. To give ourselves a chance we have to defend much, much better because the two goals are really easy and cheap goals."
Match Reports:
League One Results
Saturday 17th December 2022:
BARNSLEY (4th) 2-0 Burton Albion
Cole 36
Cole 73
Bolton Wanderers (5th) 2-0 Exeter City (13th)
Bradley 8
Charles 26
Charlton Athletic (18th) 1-2 Bristol Rovers (9th)
Inniss 20
Marquis 61
Marquis 72
Derby County (6th) 4-0 Forest Green Rovers (21st)
Mendez-Laing 5
McGoldrick 21
McGoldrick 69
McGoldrick 87
Plymouth Argyle (1st) 2-1 Morecambe (24th)
Ennis 69
Cosgrove 84
O’Connor 90+1
Portsmouth (10th) 0-2 Milton Keynes Dons (22nd)
Johnson 34
Tucker 64
Sheffield Wednesday (3rd) 0-0 Oxford United (15th)
Wycombe Wanderers (7th) 1-0 Ipswich Town (2nd)
Hanlan 40
Barnsley lie in 4th place in Sky Bet League One with 36 points from 20 games. We are 4 points inside the Play-Offs, 9 points off the Automatic Promotion Places, 11 points off First Place and 16 points above the Relegation Zone.
Up to 19/12/22
Next Up:
On The Road:
Sky Bet League One Matchday Twenty One: Accrington Stanley v Barnsley, Monday 26th December 2022 Kick Off: 3pm
At Oakwell:
Sky Bet League One Matchday Twenty Two: Barnsley v Fleetwood Town, Thursday 29th December 2022 Kick Off: 7:45pm