Performance of the Week on Monday, Capitulation of the Week today, good old Barnsley hey.
Reds fans were certainly brought crashing back down to earth at Oakwell this afternoon as the old defensive frailties returned to finish the match inside the opening 41 minutes.
Barnsley were rightly buoyant after 2 successive wins without conceding a goal which had lifted them to within sight of mid-table and now they faced a team just 3 points above them.
But it was more of a Colchester performance than a Hull one as Norwich led by Darren Huckerby stormed into a 3-0 lead.
The first goal arrived after just 7minutes to shatter The Reds recent impregnable defence and it was a goal that showed why Huckerby is still at the top of his game.
Norwich played a long ball up and Huckerby beat the offside trap superbly before cutting inside a retreating defence. You don't give this boy room to move and he showed why with a brilliant curling effort into the far top corner which Nick Colgan had no chance of stopping.
This shook The Reds into action with the on fire Istvan Ferenczi giving everything up front.
But against the run of play Norwich found themselves 2-0 up!
On 26 minutes the luck that has deserted Barnsley all season left them again as a series of deflections saw the ball fall to Lee Croft and the ex Manchester City man picked his spot past Colgan.
All the early afternoon optimism simply disappeared as now a desperate Reds team constantly gave the ball away and fluffed up in possession.
And the final nail seemed to have been plunged into the coffin on 41 minutes when Sam Togwell (aye him again) gave away possession in midfield to release Croft on the right and he picked out young sensation Chris Martin who had a free header which he put past Colgan.
Game set and Match it looked until first half stoppage time when Ferenczi bagged his 5th goal in just 4 starts to hand The Reds something of a life-line.
Martin Devaney, who had, had a truly awful first half finally managed to swing in a decent cross and Ferenczi connected with his 3rd header out of the 5 goals and glanced the ball past Tony Warner.
Still the second half could only be looked on as hope rather than expectation but it could have been so so different if The Reds had managed to take just one of the hatful of chances they created in the opening 10 minutes.
The best of the lot arriving on 51 minutes.
Warner made a complete hash of a clearance and Howard chipped the ball towards goal only to see it come agonisingly back off the crossbar.
It fell perfectly though for Peter Rajczi to nod home, but the Hungarian somehow failed to connect properly and Andy Hughes hooked it off the line.
2-3 at this point would have turned this into a real game, but Barnsley fell away after this initial spurt and Norwich cruised the rest of the game.
Simon Davey tried to change this by throwing on Kyel Reid and later Marc Richards and Ritchie Jones but to no avail.
With a home match against Sunderland next up, who have won 7 of their last 9 games to move up to 4th in the table, it isn't exactly the ideal fixture to put things right!
Nick Colgan: Cant be blamed for the goals, but his insistence on stopping on his line just panics the defence! 6
Paul Heckingbottom: Still don't think he's Championship class, but he wasn't the worst player out there by any means. Actually played better when attacking, maybe he should be put on the wing. 6
Paul Reid ©: A little nervy but don't let the 3 goals fool you, this was by no means the central defence's fault. 7
Lewin Nyatanga: Like I said with Reid don't think that conceding 3 goals means this boy played badly because he didn't. Still marshalled the defence well and looked absolutely shell-shocked at the 3 goals conceded. Rumours are Derby want him back. Oh dear. 8
Bobby Hassell: Back after suspension and almost had to double up as a winger as well as a right back in the first half due to Devaney's lack of effort. 7
Brian Howard: Totally out of sorts. Looks shattered after barely any time on the pitch! And putting him on the left wing just hampers him further!. 5
Grant McCann: Best player in a Red shirt. Controlled the midfield. Tackling was superb and got forward whenever he could. 8
Sam Togwell: Back to his normal ways. Caught in possession for the killer 3rd goal and then when he was moved out onto the right wing in the second half, you almost forgot he was playing. 5
Martin Devaney: I was preparing to give him the biggest rollicking I've ever given a player at half-time because he was truly truly awful. All this fancy dan stuff when your struggling just isn't good enough. He did though set up Ferenczi's goal and improved marginally in the second half which spares him…Just!. First half: 2 Second half: 6
Istvan Ferenczi: 4 appearances 5 goals. He keeps coming up with the goods to make that £250,000 fee seem a real bargain. Again never stopped trying. 8
Peter Rajczi: Had his moments but missed a real opportunity to pull it back to 3-2 within minutes of the restart. His link-up with Ferenczi is top class though. 7
Substitutes:
Kyel Reid (for Devaney 68) Did try his best and looked lively although he seemed to be too fast for his body at times!. 6
Ritchie Jones (for McCann 78) Need to see this boy in action more to give a proper assessment. 6
Marc Richards (Rajczi 78) I think Davey had given up the ghost by now… 6
Unused Substitutes:
David Lucas, Neil Austin
Sponsors Man of the Match: Grant McCann
BarnsleyBoy's Man of the Match: No complaints with the sponsors this week was total class in midfield, just beats Nyatanga.
Most Impressed by Norwich City's: Has to be Darren Huckerby doesn't it. He's still got it!
Ref Watch: Colin Webster: Not bad at all! Gets a lot of criticism form Prem managers but seemed alright to me. Certainly had far far worse. 7
Coca-Cola Championship Results: Saturday 3rd March 2007:
Barnsley 1-1 Norwich
Burnley 1-1 Crystal Palace
Coventry 2-0 Hull
Ipswich 2-1 QPR
Leeds 2-3 Sheffield Wednesday
Luton 2-3 Wolves
Plymouth 1-1 Stoke
Southend 2-2 Leicester
West Brom 1-2 Sunderland
Friday 2nd March 2007:
Derby 5-1 Colchester
Barnsley lie in 19th place in the Coca Cola Championship with 38 points from 36 games. We are 21 points off the Play-Offs, 26 points off the Automatic Promotion Places, 28 points off First Place and 3 points above the Relegation Zone.
Next Up:
At Oakwell:
Coca-Cola Championship Matchday Thirty Seven Barnsley v Sunderland Saturday 10th March 2007 Kick-Off 1:30pm PLEASE NOTE THE EARLIER KICK-OFF TIME!!!
Tickets for the big game are priced at:
East Stand and West Stand Upper Tiers
Adults £22.00
OAP/Juvenile £13.00
Juveniles (U11) £7.00
Barnsley Chronicle Family Area
Adults £22.00
OAP £13.00
Juvenile £13.00
Juveniles (U11) £7.00
East Stand Lower and West Stand Lower
Adults £21.00
OAP/Juveniles £12.00
Juveniles (U11) £6.00
Enterprise PLC Stand (Pontefract Road End)
Adults £20.00
OAP/Juveniles £12.00
Juveniles (U11) £6.00
All Disabled Areas £20.00
Helpers FREE OF CHARGE
To book tickets for forthcoming matches simply phone the Oakwell Box Office on 01226 211200. Alternatively call at the Box Office in person; contact the Box Office by fax on 01226 211444 or e-mail boxoffice@barnsleyfc.co.uk. Please note that Juvenile U11 tickets must be purchased in advance from the Oakwell Box Office and this price will not be on sale on the turnstiles under any circumstances.
On The Road:
Coca-Cola Championship Matchday Thirty Eight Plymouth Argyle v Barnsley Wednesday 14th March 2007 Kick-Off 7:45pm
Tickets:
Adults - £22.00
Senior Citizens (Over 65) - £15.00
Students (With Valid NUS Card) £15.00
Juveniles (Under 16) - £6.00
Official Reds On The Road coaches will be making the trip to Home Park.
Tickets: £20
Coaches will depart Oakwell at 1pm on the day of the game
Other Reports:
FootyMad Report
Barnsley Official Site Report
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