A last minute Jack Aitchison header cemented Barnsley’s place in the League One play-offs as they won in the league for the third successive match and fourth in all competitions.
It is the first time they have won three successive league games since a run of seven between 14th February 2021 and 6th March 2021.
That is also the last time they won four in a row in all competitions, the last time they won three successive away games, the last time they had a run of six games unbeaten in all competitions and last time they have opened the scoring in five successive games.
This is however the first time Barnsley have won three successive away games all with clean sheets since January 2016 when they defeated Shrewsbury 3-0, Bradford 1-0 and Swindon 1-0 in League One.
Barnsley are now unbeaten in four on the road, (W3 D1) their best run away from home since drawing their final away game in 2020-2021 (in the playoffs) and their first three of 2021-2022 (all comps)
Barnsley have now won eight games in all competitions this season and seven have been accompanied with clean sheets (a 3-1 win over Charlton the exception)
The winner came courtesy of a Jack Aitchison header after 90minutes, the first time Barnsley have won a league game with a last minute goal since Boxing Day 2020 against Huddersfield.
They knocked Middlesbrough out of the EFL Cup with a 90+minute winner too, the first time this has occurred twice in a season since the final two games of 2019-2020 when injury time goals against Nottingham Forest and Brentford dramatically kept Barnsley in the Championship.
This was only the second time this season a Barnsley league match has been 0-0 at half-time – the first home game against Cheltenham being the other and Barnsley have gone on to win both 1-0.
Aitchison’s goal is the fifth scored by a Barnsley substitute so far this season.
James Norwood set up Aitchison’s winner, his fifth goal involvement this season (scored 3 assisted 2) all of which have occurred in four of the last five league matches.
Barnsley have now reached the 20 point mark (after 11 matches) the quickest they have reached this tally since 2018-2019 (they had 22 points after 11 matches in that promotion season)
Barnsley inflicted on Fleetwood their first home league defeat of 2022-2023 and are the first league opponents to win at Highbury since their South Yorkshire rivals Sheffield Wednesday in Fleetwood’s final home game of 2021-2022.
Since the start of 2016 Barnsley have played 83 League One games (including playoffs) and have won 50 (60%)
This result continued Barnsley’s unbeaten record at Fleetwood – they have played five times at Highbury, winning three and drawing two.
This was also their second clean sheet at Highbury in those five visits.
There were only 16 shots in the game – only at Derby (14) have there been less in a Barnsley game this season.
There has been 21 fouls in each of Barnsley’s last two games and on both occasions the home side has committed 12 and away side 9.
Barnsley Team:
40. Brad Collins
24. Robbie Cundy
6. Mads Andersen ©
5. Liam Kitching
2. Jordan Williams
10. Josh Benson
8. Herbie Kane
7. Nicky Cadden
16. Luke Thomas
44. Devante Cole
9. James Norwood
Substitutes:
14. Josh Martin (for Thomas 69)
30. Adam Phillips (for Kane 69)
26. Ziyad Larkeche (for Cadden 81)
27. Jack Aitchison (for Cole 86)
Unused Substitutes:
1. Jack Walton, 3. Thomas Edwards, 48. Luca Connell.
Fleetwood Team:
13. Jay Lynch
26. Shaun Rooney
22. Aristote Nsiala
5. Michael Devlin
3. Danny Andrew
16. Lewis Warrington
8. Josh Vela
27. Harvey Macadam
24. Daniel Batty
10. Callum Morton
9. Admiral Muskwe
Substitutions:
14. Joe Garner (for Muskwe 70)
7. Carlos Mendes Gomes (for Morton 77)
11. Paddy Lane (for Batty 77)
21. Cian Hayes (for Macadam 90)
Unused Substitutes:
1. Jakub Stolarczyk, 28. Carl Johnston, 37. Drew Baker.
Fleetwood manager Scott Brown said:
“Losing by a last-minute goal is always hard. We managed the second half very well. We tried to play on the counter with some pace as well.
“We put Joe Garner on to be a bit more direct than what we’re used to. A draw would have been a fair result.
“As an overall performance from the lads, they worked extremely hard, and they always try to listen at half-time. I thought their understanding of the shape was very good.”
Match Reports:
SKY Bet League One Results
Saturday 1st October 2022
Accrington Stanley (9th) 3-1 Morecambe (24th)
Coyle 58
Astley og 77
Hamilton 81
Leigh 85
Bolton Wanderers (6th) 2-0 Lincoln City (13th)
Charles pen 40
Bodvarsson 84
Burton Albion (23rd) 3-2 Forest Green Rovers (22nd)
Adeboyejo 6
Brown 52
Wickham pen 69
Adeboyejo 82
Adeboyejo 90+2
Cambridge United (10th) 0-2 Derby County (8th)
Collins 45
Collins 83
Charlton Athletic (14th) 1-1 Oxford United (18th)
Browne 11
Stockley 55
Cheltenham Town (17th) 2-0 Shrewsbury Town (12th)
Long 45
May 46
Exeter City (11th) 2-2 Bristol Rovers (21st)
Marquis 62
Brown pen 72
Nombe 81
Loft 90+2
Fleetwood Town (15th) 0-1 Barnsley (5th)
Aitchison 90
Ipswich Town (2nd) 3-2 Portsmouth (4th)
Harness 25
Bishop pen 32
Ladapo 74
Bishop pen 79
Burns 80
Milton Keynes Dons (20th) 2-3 Peterborough United (7th)
Clarke-Harris 3
Poku 36
Jones 54
Harvie 90
Smith 90+1
Port Vale (16th) 0-1 Sheffield Wednesday (3rd)
Vaulks 63
Wycombe Wanderers (19th) 0-1 Plymouth Argyle (1st)
Cosgrove pen 8
Barnsley lie in 5th place in Sky Bet League One with 20 points from 11 games. We are inside the Play-Offs by 2 points, 4 points off the Automatic Promotion Places, 5 points off First Place and 11 points above the Relegation Zone.
Up to 02/10/22
Next Up:
At Oakwell:
Sky Bet League One Matchday Twelve: Barnsley v Exeter City, Saturday 8th October 2022 Kick Off: 3pm
On The Road:
Football League Trophy: Doncaster Rovers v Barnsley, Tuesday 11th October 2022 Kick Off: 7:45pm