It was unlucky 13 as Barnsley’s
number of defeats drew level with their number of wins in this South Yorkshire
derby – they have now won 13 and lost 13 of their 37 league matches,
incidentally last season they had won 15 and lost 15 after 37.
It means the Reds have gone
three home league games without a win for the first time this season (D2 L1)
and first time for 12 months.
Barnsley have lost four league
games by a 1-0 scoreline for the second successive season, this was their sixth
home league defeat of the season and 50% have been by this scoreline.
Of the six defeats Barnsley
have failed to score themselves in five of them, only netting in a home defeat
when they led Mansfield 2-0 before losing 3-2.
Indeed of the 13 league defeats
suffered so far this season nine have come without Barnsley finding the net.
The deciding moment in this
game came from the penalty spot, the first time Barnsley have lost a game only
via 12 yards since September 2023 against Blackpool.
The Reds have conceded a goal
from a penalty on successive Saturdays in which they have played for the first
time since November 2023.
This
was the 13th successive spot kick converted against Barnsley
(excluding shootouts), Charlton’s Chuks Aneke was the last player to fail from
12 yards against Barnsley back in April 2024.
It
was the 60th league goal Barnsley have conceded this season, only
two sides (Blackpool 63 and Leyton Orient 62) have conceded more in League One
this season and it is the first time Barnsley have reached this total by the 37th
game since 2019-2020 in the Championship when they had leaked 62.
The
goal was slotted away by ex Red Elliot Lee who failed to score in his six
substitute appearances for the club in 2016-2017 but it is the fifth time a former
Barnsley player has scored against them this season after John McAtee (twice),
Ashley Fletcher and Stephen Humphrys.
This
defeat means Barnsley have lost a league game to all three teams who were
promoted from League Two last season (also 2-0 at Wimbledon and 2-0 v Port Vale
at home) for the second successive season.
There
were 13,026 in attendance, the first five figure Oakwell crowd for nine league
games since 10,266 watched a 2-1 win over Blackpool on the 17th
January – up to that point all 11 home games had seen a five figure crowd.
This
crowd was Oakwell’s third highest in the league this season after Huddersfield
(15,783) and Bolton (13,167) both of which came in the season’s opening month.
This
was Barnsley’s fifth loss in their last 11 league Yorkshire derbies (W6), they
haven’t drawn a league derby since a 1-1 stalemate with Huddersfield in
December 2021 and haven’t against a side also from the south of the county
since a 1-1 with Sheffield Wednesday in February 2020.
Since David McGoldrick’s
scoring streak started in January, this is the first time he has gone back to
back games without scoring.
Barnsley
have now gone 23 league games without a clean sheet, their longest run since a
streak of 24 games between 13th December 1952 and 19th
August 1953 which encompassed the final 23 games of the 1952-1953 season in the
second tier and opening game of 1953-1954 in the third tier. That 1952-1953
season is the last time Barnsley kept less league clean sheets in a campaign
than they have this season, they have kept two in 2025-2026 so far and kept
only one, against West Ham 73 years ago.
Doncaster’s victory means neither of these sides have done the
double over the other now for 18 years with Barnsley the last to do so in 2008-2009
following a 4-1 win at Oakwell and 1-0 win at then named Keepmoat Stadium.
Barnsley have now alternated between a win and a loss in the last
four meetings in all competitions.
They have now though won only three of the last 13 meetings (D5
L5)
Doncaster have won back to back games at Oakwell for the first
time since a run of three between October 2004 and October 2005, both runs have
included an EFL Trophy victory.
They are the only two defeats Barnsley have suffered in the last
eight Oakwell clashes however they have now won only two of the last nine.
Barnsley Team:
1. Owen Goodman
7. Corey O’Keeffe
15. Eoghan O’Connell
5. Jack Shepherd
27. Tennai Watson
8. Adam Phillips
22. Patrick Kelly
18. Scott Banks
48. Luca Connell
19. Reyes Cleary
10. David McGoldrick
Substitutes:
30. Jonathan Bland (for Banks 45)
45. Vimal Yoganathan (for
Phillips 71)
20. Charlie Lennon (for Cleary
71)
14. Nathanel Ogbeta (for Watson
81)
Unused
Substitutes:
51.
Kieren Flavell, 4. Marc Roberts, 6. Mael de Gevigney.
Doncaster Team:
29.
Thimothee Lo-Tutala
2.
Jamie Sterry
12.
Niall Byrne
5.
Matthew Pearson
23.
Jack Senior
22.
Robbie Gotts
17.
Glenn Middleton
4.
Owen Bailey
18.
Elliot Lee
11.
Jordan Gibson
9.
Brandan Hanlan
Substitutions:
47. Hakeeb Adelakun (for
Middleton 60)
15. Harry Clifton (for Lee 79)
8. George Broadbent (for Gibson
90)
Unused
Substitutes:
1. Zander Clark, 3. James
Maxwell, 6. Jay McGrath, 33. Ben Close
League One Results
Saturday 21st March
Cardiff City (2nd)
0-0 Blackpool (21st)
Luton Town (11th)
1-1 Stockport County (5th)
Lawrence 28
Norwood
78
AFC Wimbledon (14th)
1-1 Peterborough United (12th)
Johnson 43
Morgan
67
BARNSLEY (13th)
0-1 Doncaster Rovers (17th)
Lee
pen 65
Burton Albion (18th)
2-1 Bradford City (4th)
Hartridge 41
Shade 58
Wright
90+2
Leyton Orient (16th)
2-0 Wycombe Wanderers (10th)
Mitchell 19
El Mizouni 90+1
Lincoln City (1st)
3-0 Rotherham United (22nd)
Cann og 18
House 34
Hackett 45
Mansfield Town (15th)
4-1 Northampton Town (23rd)
Evans 5
Evans 48
Akins 62
McGeehan
73
Akins 90+3
Plymouth Argyle (7th)
3-1 Huddersfield Town (9th)
Humphreys
25
Dale 47
Pepple pen 59
Oseni 73
Port Vale (24th)
1-0 Bolton Wanderers (3rd)
Hall 34
Stevenage (6th)
1-0 Reading (8th)
Kemp 85
Wigan Athletic (19th)
2-0 Exeter City (20th)
Taylor 5
Murray 85
Barnsley lie in 13th
place in Sky Bet League One with 50 points from 37 games. We are 10 points off the
Play-Offs, 27 points off the Automatic Promotion Places, 34 points off First
Place and 8 points above the Relegation Zone.
Up to 23/3/26
Next Up:
On
The Road:
Sky Bet League One Matchday Thirty Eight: Burton Albion v Barnsley, Friday 3rd April 2026. Kick-Off: 3pm
At
Oakwell:
Sky Bet League One Matchday Thirty Nine: Barnsley v Plymouth Argyle, Monday 6th April 2026. Kick-Off: 3pm
