Reds 0 v 3 Swindon (59 Byrne, 81 Reeves, 82 Williams)
Three second half goals for Swindon were enough for the visitors to go away from Oakwell this afternoon with all three points.
Barnsley were unlucky not to get in front after an impressive first half performance but the Robins tied up the game with goals from Byrne, Reeves and Williams in the second half.
After last Saturday’s loss to Port Vale, Danny Wilson’s Barnsley side contains four changes for this afternoon’s meeting with Swindon.
The Robins came into today’s game currently 4th in the league table as the Reds are looking to make up some places from 19th.
It was the Reds who started the game best, winning a corner in the opening seconds. Nothing came from the chance however as no Barnsley players were able to meet Conor Hourihane’s delivery.
Danny Wilson’s side continued to pressure Swindon in the opening five minutes and not long after they had their second corner of the game.
Taking the set piece short, Hourihane forced Swindon’s Wes Foderingham into his first save of the game, punching clear from his cross to the far post.
Despite a period of prolonged possession for Barnsley, the Reds were frustratingly unable to capitalise on their good play.
The Red’s next chance came from a free kick in the 21st minute after Jean-Yves M’Voto’s half volley just missed its mark and went over Foderingham’s crossbar.
On the half hour mark the Reds mounted a counter attack following a Swindon corner. Eventually breaking for Kane Hemmings, he fed Cranie but his cross was picked out of the air by the Swindon keeper.
With 33 minutes played, Ross Turnbull was called upon to make his first real save of the game, parrying Andy Williams’ shot after the referee had played a good period of advantage for the visitors.
Barnsley felt unlucky in the 40th minute after Hourihane was bought down by last man Nathan Thompson on the edge of the box but the referee waved away the appeals.
With one minute left in the half, the Reds won a corner following a chance from Sam Winnall. From the following delivery, Martin Cranie sliced his shot from the edge of the box as the chance petered out.
Second Half-
Barnsley came out for the second half continuing to look positive despite an early scare for captain Martin Cranie after a collision with Massimo Luongo.
Three minutes into the half, youngster James Bree did well down the right hand side and managed to work in a cross aimed towards Hemmings but Foderingham in the Swindon goal collected the ball.
The first real chance of the second half came after James Bailey released Devante Cole through the middle in the 52nd minute.
Despite having a lot of goal to aim for, the Manchester City loanee saw his shot saved by Foderingham.
Continuing to attack the Swindon goal, the Reds saw efforts from Hourihane amongst other cause problems for the Robins as the Oakwell crowd started to become more vocal.
A shot from Nathan Thompson forced Ross Turnbull to make another difficult save as he got down low to his left to stop the 20 yard effort.
Not long after it was Swindon who took the lead when Nathan Byrne wriggled through the Barnsley defence before beating Turnbull with a low shot into the left hand corner just before the hour mark.
Continuing to perform well between the sticks, the visitors would have been further in front was it not for Turnbull making several good saves in the minutes that followed.
Looking to add more width to the play, Danny Wilson replaced Winnall with Jennings soon after the goal.
The tactics looked to have paid off with the following attack as Dale Jennings bolted down the left flank before finding Hemmings who was tackled at the last moment by a Swindon defender.
Ross Turbull’s fantastic display in the Barnsley goal continued as in the 75th minute he got finger tips on a chipped effort from Andy Williams, ensuring the visitors remained only one in front.
Soon after, the Reds had a strong appeal for a free kick ignored after Devante Cole seemingly had his heels clipped on the edge of the Swindon box.
Barnsley continued to knock on the door for an equaliser but chance after chance frustratingly went begging.
With nine minutes left on the clock, Swindon got their second after Nathan Byrne again beat his marker down the right before supplying substitute Reeves with an opportunity to side foot home to double his side’s advantage.
Things went from bad to worse for Barnsley only a matter of minutes later after Andy Williams, who replaced Obika in the first half, shot across Turnbull to notch his side’s third.
Deep into added time, Devante Cole had a chance to grab a consolation for Barnsley after Foderingham in the Swindon goal was caught short from another back pass, but the quick attacker wasn’t fast enough to beat the goalkeeper to the loose ball.
Teams-
Reds: Turnbull, Dudgeon, Nyatanga, Cranie (72) , Hourihane, Winnall (63), Hemmings, M’Voto, Bree, Bailey, Cole.
Subs: Davies, Brown, Berry, Treacy (72), Jennings (63), Noble-Lazarus, Lita.
Swindon: Foderingham, Thompson, Byrne, Luongo, Stephens, Turnbull, Kasim, Bell, Thompson (76), Obika (20), Smith.
Subs: Belford, Williams (20), Reeves (76), Barker, Barthram, Waldon, Rodgers.
Referee: Christopher Kavanagh
