Barnsley
won a topsy-turvy game to reignite play-off hopes as they first led then fell
behind before coming back to secure three points which moved them within four
points of the top six with two games in hand.
It
is the first time Barnsley have won a match in this fashion since the second
leg of the 2023-2024 play-offs at Bolton in May 2024 and the first time in a
regular league match since Bournemouth away in the Championship in March 2021.
Remarkably
Barnsley have now won four matches by a 3-2 scoreline this season in all
competitions (v Burton, Reading, York - in the FA Cup and Leyton Orient), the
most in a season since way back in 1921-1922 when it occurred on five occasions
(v Sheffield Wednesday, Port Vale twice, Blackpool and Bradford Park Avenue,
all in the Second Division)
The
Reds have scored three or more times in seven different League One games so far
in 2025-2026 from 17 altogether (41%), the same amount as they managed from 46
league games last season.
It
means they have now scored 30 league goals this season, only Cardiff 36 and
Huddersfield and Leyton Orient (both 32) have netted more in League One this
season.
Barnsley
have now won two league games this season after trailing at half time, both 3-2
with the other occurring against Burton when they were 2-0 down at the break.
The same amount of come from behind wins when trailing at half time in the
league as last season.
Reyes
Cleary scored Barnsley's first goal and then assisted the other two, remarkably
the second successive home game he has achieved this particular feat.
The
last Barnsley player to do it not called Reyes Cleary was Josh Martin in an EFL
trophy win against Doncaster in October 2022 and the last to do it in a league
game was Alex Mowatt against QPR in March 2021.
Cleary
now has eight assists in 2025-2026, five more than any other Barnsley player
and only one less than last season's top assister Corey O'Keeffe.
Cleary's
goal was cancelled out by a penalty conceded by goalkeeper Murphy Cooper, which
incredibly brought the fifth yellow card of the season for the Reds
shot-stopper.
Who
else but Davis Keillor-Dunn was the match winner, grabbing his tenth league
goal of the season, making him the joint top scorer in the league this season
alongside Cardiff's Yousef Salech.
DKD
has now netted 28 league goals for Barnsley from 59 appearances, matching his
total for Mansfield which came in 68 appearances.
Of
the 32 goals DKD has netted for Barnsley in all competitions, only seven has
been decisive match winning goals.
The
10,232 in attendance was Barnsley's lowest home league crowd of 2025-2026 and
lowest since the 1st April v Exeter (10,092).
That
however was a Tuesday night so this is the lowest Oakwell league crowd on a
Saturday since the 21st January 2023 against Accrington Stanley (9,893)
Jon
Russell is the first Barnsley substitute to score in a league game at Oakwell since
Jonathan Lewis against Cambridge on the 22nd March.
This
win ended a run of two straight defeats against Orient and they have now won
five of the last nine meetings – prior to this they had won only two of eleven.
This
fixture has guaranteed goals over the past 12 months, they have met three times
from December 2024 to December 2025 in which a total of 16 goals have been
scored.
There
has been no stalemate in any of the last 11 meetings at Oakwell with this
Barnsley’s ninth win in that run.
Indeed
the Reds have now won 16 of the last 19 Oakwell clashes (D1 L2)
One
team has netted 3+ goals in nine of the last 15 Oakwell meetings.
Barnsley
have had exactly 14 shots in each of their last three home games (all comps) with
five on target in each of the last two.
Barnsley
Team:
1 Murphy Cooper
30. Jonathan Bland
6. Mael de Gevigney
5. Jack Shepherd
27. Tennai Watson
23. Neil Farrugia
8. Adam Phillips
22. Patrick Kelly
45. Vimal Yoganathan
19. Reyes Cleary
40. Davis
Keillor-Dunn
Substitutes:
3. Jon Russell (for Yoganathan 62)
7. Caylan Vickers
(for Farrugia 66)
4. Marc Roberts (for
Cleary 90+2)
Unused Substitutes:
12. Jackson Smith, 32. Josh Earl, 10. David McGoldrick, 11. Fabio
Jalo.
Leyton
Orient Team:
33. Killian Cahill
19. Omar Beckles
5. Daniel Happe
4. Jack Simpson
14. Michael Craig
15. Tyreeq Bakinson
21. Jack Moorhouse
3. Tayo Adaramola
20. Sonny Perkins
32. Dom Ballard
7. Ollie O’Neill
Substitutions:
28. Sean Clare (for
Craig 59)
25. Charlie Wellens
(for Perkins 59)
2. Tom James (for
Moorhouse 75)
9. Alfie Lloyd (for
Ballard 75)
44. Theo Archibald
(for Adaramola 89)
Unused
Substitutes:
1. Tommy Simkin, 27.
Diallang Jaiyesmi.
League One Results
Saturday 13th December:
AFC
Wimbledon (10th) 0-0 Mansfield Town (16th)
Huddersfield
Town (9th) 1-1 Wigan Athletic (11th)
Wallace 33
Rodrigues
52
BARNSLEY
(8th) 3-2 Leyton Orient (13th)
Cleary 10
Ballard
pen 30
O’Neill
38
Russell 77
Keillor-Dunn 85
Blackpool
(23rd) 2-2 Lincoln City (3rd)
Moylan
3
Street
18
Evans pen 34
Fletcher 84
Bolton
Wanderers (4th) 2-1 Exeter City (22nd)
Aitchison
20
Dalby 70
Gale 82
Bradford
City (2nd) 2-0 Reading (18th)
Sarcevic 56
Pointon 84
Burton
Albion (17th) 0-0 Wycombe Wanderers (12th)
Cardiff
City (1st) 4-3 Doncaster Rovers (20th)
Bailey
15
Kellyman 25
Ashford 34
Hanlan
42
Salech 50
Clifton
72
Bagan 90+9
Luton
Town (7th) 2-2 Port Vale (24th)
Bramall 26
Waine
42
Cole
54
Andersen 70
Peterborough
United (19th) 2-1 Northampton Town (14th)
Leonard 45+1
Leonard 48
Eaves
69
Plymouth
Argyle (21st) 1-0 Rotherham United (15th)
Ralls 42
Stockport
County (6th) 1-3 Stevenage (5th)
Campbell
22
Reid
53
Wootton 62
Thompson
64
Barnsley
lie in 8th place in Sky Bet League One with 28 points from 17 games.
We are 4 points off the Play-Offs, 9 points off the Automatic Promotion Places,
13 points off First Place and 6 points above the Relegation Zone.
Up to 14/12/25
Next Up:
On The Road:
Sky Bet League One
Matchday Eighteen: Exeter City v Barnsley, Saturday 20th December
2025. Kick-Off: 3pm
At Oakwell:
Sky Bet League One Matchday Nineteen: Barnsley v Mansfield Town, Friday 26th December 2025. Kick-Off: 3pm
