Yes, I was in the Ponty with the idiots last nite. Fancied a change. See how the other half live. And as the Blunts pressed for an equaliser late on, I didn’t know if the fact I could barely see the far end was a help or a hindrance. For the first time in a long time I was actually invested in the result. The team was MAGNIFICENT as it battled to victory against the big city higher division neighbours. Plus they silenced a full away end very early on. I don’t think I could have stood 5,000 crowing Blunts (I said ‘Blunts’, not ...)
I said I was with the idiots. I would have been – but one had already nicked my seat, back row. To hell with it, I’ll go and sit with Wadd. I could be the new Molly! But some others had nicked that seat too. All this in a stand that was less than half full. Still, I’m forever banging on that unreserved seating in the Ponty is at the heart of improving the atmosphere at Oakwell. Well, it did last nite! Mind, if I have one regret, it’s not swapping seats with Wadd at half-time,and given my right ear a break. Christ, he talks, and Christ, very little is about the match in front of him. Molly owes me one.
The opening half undoubtedly belonged to the Blunts, but we held strong, aside from Earl being stripped (he can add ‘left back’ to ‘left wingback’ as positions he’s not suited to. His worst effort was in trying to let the ball out of play, leaving the winger to dance round him and pull the ball back for Billy Blunt to sidefoot off the post from 6 yards. Unmissable. So unmissable, I’d have put money on Devante scoring. Or Dire. Or Dave Regis*. Winnall would have scored it twice. That said, the defence stood tall and happily gave away corners confident they’d head the ball clear. (We had both Pines and Roberts in there; the Blunts meantime had no Kieffer Moore. THAT would have been interesting.)
*I’m aware all 3 share the same ethnicity; this is coincidence. I was just had to find a 3rd after the first 2 trip off my tongue like my own slaver. And now I have to get paranoid cos the word for the spittle that dribbles from your mouth is the same spelling as...anyway, I give up.
I couldn’t see us scoring tho, despite them having Adam Davies in goal. (Yes, THE Adam Davies.) ‘Do we get pens after 90 minutes?’ I asked young Lucas. I was grasping for anything, still thinking if we concede one, we’ll concede 3, 4, 5. If we don’t concede at all, at least we’ll have the opportunity to beat them on pens. And we wouldn’t even have to suffer extra time. My fears were misguided – we were AWESOME (dude) that 2nd half, absolutely awesome.
We were on the front foot from the start, as Cotter rampaged down the right. On current form, he’s a better right winger than Farage. (Where’s he gone? Don’t bother replying.) The goal came courtesy of Bazza too, with a little help from his friends. A beautiful throughball to Phillips, wide right, is returned, low, across goal for Sniffer Watters to bury from 4 yards into an empty net. What a player this Watters bloke is. 2 goals in 2 games, is there no stopping him? (It’s transfer deadline week; can I see a show of hands on who WOULDN’T sell him, if we could, if anyone wanted him, if if...) Great goal.
That was earlyish, 2nd half, but for half an hour we were the better side. Then, with subs on and time ticking…the Blunts sending an SOS to star man Hamer on the bench…from 77 on we were under the cosh. I say 77, cos they had 3 chances in 3 mins. But the defence held out, the midfield never stopped running and the forwards put a shift in. It was like the good old days of a cup upset. Oh, and Max Watters has now scored more winners for Barnsley in derbies than everyone except Jamal Campbell-Ryce. Incredible.
Onwards and upwards!
*** Cotter. 2nd home game in a row he’s been diddled out of MOTM by Phillips. Waddington said it, Darrell, who I met outside, said it, I’m saying it, everyone who saw the game said it. So we took him off an hour or so in (injured?) and we were never the same.
** Roberts. Headed and cleared everything.
* Pines. See above. No wonder we were so keen to let them have corner after corner!
Official MOTM: Phillips
Londontykes’ MOTM: 1. Cotter 2. Watters 3. Lofthouse
Despatches:
I’ll not go through the team, the lot of ‘em were heroes. Special mentions to Marsh and Yoganathan as replacements for regulars Cosgrove and whoever plays with Connell in the middle..
But the crowd. If the Blunts brought 5,000 (should be easy to feed; 5 fish and a couple of loaves….or is the other way around?) that means 5,739 Reds fans. Pathetic. I saw on social media folk complaining it was 17 quid. OK, I get that, it could be less. But a league game is 29 quid FFS. I’d have thought 17 was almost good value. It didn’t deter dem blades. Maybe the clue is in being relegated from the Prem. With away allocations last season of 3,000 or less, and a desperation to see their team battered, this probably represented many of their fans with a rare chance of seeing an away game. So the price suited THEM. But perhaps the powers-that-be at Oakwell need to be more in touch with our own fans. (However, we could’ve given tickets away and not got rid of more than 10,000, so it’s a tricky game.) But it was bliss seeing a full, yet silent, away end. Enjoyed that. Well done you Super Reds. 1st home win since February. 1st win against the Blunts since...?
Drink du jour: Paulaner Weissbier (cans of) in Spiral City.
Away: 5,000 (sellout). Looked more, but 5,000 is the only figure I can find.
The Damage:
£17 ent
c. £8 petrol
£3 programme
= £28
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