Barnsley
drew a league game 3-3 for the first time in exactly 15 years as they dropped
to 16th in League One, their lowest Valentine’s Day position in the
football pyramid since 2015 when they were 19th in the third tier.
They have now won only one of their last six league games and two of the last
11.
It
is the first time since February 2011 Barnsley have shared the spoils from a
game of six goals when they drew 3-3 against Leeds at Elland Road in the Championship
whilst it is the first time it has occurred at Oakwell for 19 years against
Stoke on Boxing Day 2007.
It
is the first time Barnsley have netted as many as three goals in a league game
and not won since April 2025 when they lost 4-3 at Leyton Orient (they have
scored at least three times on seven occasions since then and before yesterday)
whilst it is the first time they have netted this many goals in a league game
at Oakwell and not won since September 2014 when they lost 5-3 to MK Dons, a game
in which current head coach Conor Hourihane netted twice for Barnsley.
It
is the second time Barnsley have been 2-0 up in a game and then fallen 3-2
down, also occurring against Mansfield in December – they went on to lose that
game 3-2 however.
The
last time they were 2-0 up in a league game and went on to draw 3-3 was in
August 2010 when they led 2-0 at Bristol City after just 12 minutes, were
drawing 2-2 by the 21st, then went 3-2 up after 51 minutes before
City made it 3-3 after 62.
Sixteen
years later Barnsley were 2-0 up only two minutes later, Tom Bradshaw’s first
Reds goal for eight years seeing them two goals to the good after 14 minutes
for the first time since Boxing Day when they led 2-0 in the aforementioned Mansfield
game after 13 minutes. David McGoldrick’s six goal in his last seven
appearances had given them the lead after 10 minutes –remarkably McGoldrick has
now scored in each of the last four games played at Oakwell with it being
Barnsley’s first goal in each one and the opening goal of the game in three.
He
is the first player to net in four successive Oakwell league matches (v
Blackpool, Stevenage, Northampton and Wimbledon) since Sam Winnall in 2015-2016
(v Blackpool, Millwall, Rochdale and Bury)
Whilst this is the second time in two months Barnsley have thrown
away a 2-0 lead to go 3-2 down, it is the first time they have led a match 2-0
and it be 2-2 at half time since October 2017 at Burton – the Reds would score
two second half goals to win 4-2. It is the first time it has happened at
Oakwell since November 2007 against Watford – a game Barnsley went on to win
3-2.
It is the first time a Barnsley league game has seen four first
half goals since February 2023 against Derby – The Reds who would go on to win
4-1, led 3-1 at the break with McGoldrick scoring the Rams goal.
The lead Barnsley had generated came courtesy of two assists from
Reyes Cleary, the third time he has set up two goals in a game this season.
It means he now has 12 assists this season, the most by a Barnsley
since Alex Mowatt in 2018-2019 (13)
Whilst this game saw Bradshaw score his first Barnsley goal for
eight years he has now scored twice for Barnsley on Valentine’s Day having done
so at Aston Villa on the 14th February 2017.
This weekend’s effort was his 22nd Barnsley goal from
95 appearances.
Wimbledon had got themselves level thanks to a brace from Omar
Bugiel, the second game in a row an opponent has netted twice against Barnsley
following Bolton’s Sam Dalby last weekend.
It is the first time a brace has been scored against the Reds in
successive games since Exeter’s Jay Stansfield in the league and Doncaster’s
George Miller in the EFL Trophy in October 2022. Bugiel is the fifth player to
net a brace against Barnsley this season in all competitions but the first at
Oakwell since John Marquis for Shrewsbury in the final Oakwell game of
2024-2025 in April 2025.
Marcus Browne’s effort which had put the Dons 3-2 up was the 23rd
League One goal conceded by Barnsley at Oakwell this season, only Blackpool
(25) and Plymouth (24) have conceded more in front of their own fans this
season.
Barnsley have though now scored 30 league goals at home this
season, the same as Wycombe with only Cardiff (38), Lincoln (32) and
Huddersfield (31) scoring more home league goals.
Home and away Barnsley have netted 47 times this season only the
above three sides have netted more but they have now conceded 49 with only
Doncaster (50) having conceded more.
It
continues the wretched run of only keeping two league clean sheets in 2025-2026
so far, it is the first time they have kept so few shut-outs after 28 games at any
level since the 1952-1953 second tier season when they kept only ONE all season
- a season in which they conceded 108 goals in 42 games, 20 more than any other
side in the division that season. It is their longest ever run in a third tier
season without a third clean sheet.
Corey O’Keeffe has played in seven league games for Barnsley since
returning from his loan at Stockport and has now been booked in three of them.
This was Barnsley’s third successive home league game where the
attendance has been under 10,000 – all the previous 11 home games this season
were in five figures with this game Barnsley’s lowest home league attendance on
a Saturday this season.
The crowd of 9,640 is Barnsley’s first four figure crowd on a
Saturday in a league game since the 21st January 2023 against
Accrington Stanley (9,893) and Oakwell’s lowest Saturday league crowd since the
17th December 2022 against Burton (9,423)
This was only the fourth ever meeting between Barnsley and AFC
Wimbledon with half of them now ending in a draw however the other draw saw no
goals scored!
Barnsley have won only one of the four meetings and have never
beaten AFC Wimbledon at Oakwell.
This was the first Oakwell meeting to see goals.
Barnsley had seven shots on target, their joint most in a league
game this season – the other occasions were the first two league games of the
season.
There were 15 corners in the game, the most seen in a game at
Oakwell this season and most in 13 months, since 25th January 2025
against Stevenage (also 15)
There were 25 free-kicks given, the most in a Barnsley game in
2026.
Barnsley Team:
1. Owen Goodman
7. Corey O’Keeffe
4. Marc Roberts
5. Jack Shepherd
27. Tennai Watson
18. Scott Banks
22. Patrick Kelly
48. Luca Connell
19. Reyes Cleary
10. David McGoldrick
9. Tom Bradshaw
Substitutes:
30. Jonathan Bland (for Bradshaw
59)
8. Adam Phillips (for Cleary 59)
15. Eoghan O’Connell (for Roberts
77)
Unused
Substitutes:
51.
Kieren Flavell, 14. Nathanel Ogbeta, 6. Mael de Gevigney, 20. Charlie Lennon
Wimbledon Team:
1. Nathan Bishop
33.
Isaac Ogundere
6.
Ryan Johnson
3.
Steve Seddon
7.
James Tilley
8.
Callum Maycock
12.
Alistair Smith
21.
Myles Hippolyte
30.
Robert Junior Nkeng
9.
Omar Bugiel
11.
Marcus Browne
Substitutions:
2. Nathan Asiimwe (for Nkeng 76)
37. Zack Nelson (for Hippolyte
87)
16. Antwoine Hackford (for Browne
88)
Unused Substitutes:
20. Joe McDonnell, 15. Patrick
Bauer, 4. Jake Reeves, 14. Matty Stevens.
League One Results
Reading (7th) 3-2 Wycombe Wanderers (11th)
Marriott 8
Marriott 44
Casey 50
Hagelskjaer 72
Marriott 74
Stevenage (9th) 1-0 Huddersfield Town (6th)
Piergianni 85
BARNSLEY (16th) 3-3 AFC Wimbledon (15th)
McGoldrick 10
Bradshaw 14
Bugiel 25
Bugiel 27
Browne 74
Banks 87
Blackpool (19th) 0-4 Plymouth Argyle (12th)
Mitchell 30
Pepple 45+1
Boateng 45+4
Watts 60
Bradford City (5th) 2-0 Peterborough United (10th)
Pointon 5
Jackson 50
Cardiff City (1st) 3-1 Luton Town (8th)
Turnbull 11
Clark pen 20
Colwill 37
Ng 42
Exeter City (14th) 0-0 Northampton Town (17th)
Lincoln City (2nd) 1-1 Bolton Wanderers (3rd)
Moylan
25
Dalby 82
Barnsley lie in 16th
place in Sky Bet League One with 38 points from 28 games. We are 11 points off the
Play-Offs, 24 points off the Automatic Promotion Places, 28 points off First
Place and 6 points above the Relegation Zone.
Up to 15/2/26
Next Up:
At
Oakwell:
Sky Bet League One Matchday Twenty
Nine: Barnsley v Peterborough United, Tuesday 17th February 2026.
Kick-Off: 7:45pm
On The Road:
Sky Bet League One Matchday Thirty:
Huddersfield v Barnsley, Saturday 21st February 2026. Kick-Off: 3pm
