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Barnsley
will spend Christmas Day in their lowest position in the footballing pyramid
for a decade after a desperately disappointing defeat against an Exeter side
who were in the relegation zone prior to kick-off.
The
Reds will sit 10th in League One on the festive day (54th
in the English ladder) the lowest at this time of year since 2015-2016 when
they were 21st in League One (65th) – however they end up
winning promotion five months later.
Barnsley
have now won only two of their last six matches immediately prior to Christmas
(W2 D1 L3) and have lost the last two by an aggregate score of 7-0 following a
4-0 hammering from Leyton Orient in 2024.
This
is however the first time since 2021 in the Championship that they have lost
their final away game before Christmas, having won each of the last three
including last year at Exeter.
The
last time they lost their final League One away game before Christmas was back
in 2014 when they were defeated 3-1 at Walsall.
This
is the fourth time this season Barnsley have conceded 3+ goals in a game (all
comps) with three of those coming in the last five outings.
The
Reds have lost back to back away league games by conceding at least three goals
for the first time since April when they lost 6-2 at Birmingham and then 4-3 at
Leyton Orient.
Barnsley
have seen one team score exactly three times in three successive matches
(including a 3-2 home win over Leyton Orient sandwiched between these two home
defeats) for the first time since November 2023 (3-3 FA Cup draw with Horsham,
3-0 league defeat at Derby, 3-0 FA Cup win at Horsham) whilst it is the first
time in three successive league games since November/December 2017 in the
Championship (3-0 defeat to Reading, 3-1 defeat to Bolton, 3-0 defeat to Derby)
This
Barnsley’s first 3-0 away league defeat since September 2024 at Stevenage and
so far has happened once in each of the last three seasons (occurring at Derby
in 2023-2024)
This
was only the fifth time Barnsley have failed to score in 18 league games this
season, all of which have ended in defeat. Indeed five of Barnsley’s six league
defeats this season have come when they have drawn a blank (scoring once in the
3-1 reverse at Lincoln)
Barnsley
have now lost over half their meetings with Exeter with this the 14th
reverse in 27 clashes.
They
have lost successive meetings and six of the last 10 (W4)
This
result ended a run of three successive meetings that have finished 2-1.
It
is the first time in five clashes that the home side has scored more than once
which was also Exeter in March 2023.
It
is the first blank by the away side for seven meetings since Barnsley won 1-0
in April 1981.
Barnsley
have now won only three of their last 12 visits to Exeter however this defeat
ended a run of back to back wins.
Barnsley
failed to score for the first time in six visits, a 1-0 defeat in January 1977.
It
is Barnsley’s heaviest defeat here since a 6-1 hammering in November 1973.
They
have now lost 3-0 at Exeter on two occasions with the other being their first
ever visit in October 1964.
Both
sides has now won two and lost two meetings at Exeter in League One.
There
has been exactly 25 shots in each of Barnsley’s last two games and three of the
last four.
Barnsley
managed only one on target, their joint lowest on the road in League One this season
(also at Blackpool in September)
Barnsley
Team:
1. Murphy Cooper
30. Jonathan Bland
4. Marc Roberts
5. Jack Shepherd
27. Tennai Watson
23. Neil Farrugia
8. Adam Phillips
22. Patrick Kelly
48. Luca Connell
19. Reyes Cleary
40. Davis
Keillor-Dunn
Substitutes:
11. Fabio Jalo (for
Farrugia 58)
3. Jon Russell (for
Bland 62)
45. Vimal Yoganathan
(for Kelly 76)
6. Mael de Gevigney
(for Phillips 77)
Unused Substitutes:
51. Kieren Flavell, 7. Caylan Vickers, 39. Leo Farrell.
Exeter
Team:
1. Joe Whitworth
26. Pierce Sweeney
5. Jack Fitzwater
20. Luca Woodhouse
2. Jack McMillan
6. Ethan Brierley
31. Jake Doyle-Hayes
14. Ilmari Niskanen
10. Jack Aitchison
19. Sonny Cox
9. Jayden Wareham.
Substitutions:
12. Reece Cole (for
Cox 59)
29. Kevin McDonald
(for Doyle-Hayes 84)
17. Akeel Higgins
(for Aitchison 84)
34. Liam Oakes (for
Brierley 90+2)
7. Mendes Gomes (for
Wareham 90+2)
Unused
Substitutes:
23. Jack Bycroft, 16.
Sil Swinkels.
League One Results
Thursday 18th December
Reading
(15th) 3-2 Luton Town (8th)
Wing pen 8
Marriott 52
Clark
59
Lonwijk
76
Ehibhationham 78
Friday 19th December
Northampton
Town (12th) 3-1 AFC Wimbledon (13th)
McCarthy 10
Browne
16
McGeehan 50
McGeehan 59
Saturday 20th December
Stevenage
(4th) 2-2 Burton Albion (19th)
Shade
22
Reid 46
Armer og 60
Beesley
67
Wigan
Athletic (14th) 0-2 Blackpool (22nd)
Fletcher
59
Taylor
64
Doncaster
Rovers (23rd) 1-5 Plymouth Argyle (17th)
Hanlan 4
Tolaj
11
Oseni
22
Tolaj
23
Tolaj
pen 73
Amaechi
88
Exeter
City (20th) 3-0 BARNSLEY (10th)
Niskanen 41
Wareham 61
Cole 73
Leyton
Orient (11th) 2-1 Bradford City (3rd)
Humphrys
17
Ballard 36
Ballard 58
Lincoln
City (2nd) 2-1 Cardiff City (1st)
Robertson og 40
Ng
49
Bradley 67
Mansfield
Town (21st) 1-2 Stockport County (5th)
Wootton og 28
Sweeney
og 42
Diamond
69
Port
Vale (24th) 0-1 Peterborough United (16th)
Leonard
83
Rotherham
United (18th) 1-3 Huddersfield Town (7th)
Gooch
26
Radulovic
30
Castledine
44
Nombe 90+5
Wycombe
Wanderers (9th) 2-1 Bolton Wanderers (6th)
Gale
16
Grimmer 40
Junior Quitirna 43
Barnsley
lie in 10th place in Sky Bet League One with 28 points from 18 games.
We are 6 points off the Play-Offs, 10 points off the Automatic Promotion Places,
13 points off First Place and 5 points above the Relegation Zone.
Up to 21/12/25
Next Up:
At Oakwell:
Sky Bet League One Matchday Nineteen: Barnsley v Mansfield Town, Friday 26th December 2025. Kick-Off: 3pm
On The Road:
Sky Bet League One
Matchday Twenty One: Wigan Athletic v Barnsley, Thursday 1st January
2026. Kick-Off: 3pm
