Barnsley 1 (Trotta 29)
Scunthorpe 2 (Madden 30, 45+2)
Danny Wilson’s 250th game as Reds manager ended in defeat as Scunthorpe ran out 2-1 winners at Oakwell. After Barnsley took the lead in the 29th minute, the visitors equalised a minute later and then got the winner on the stroke of half time.
The opening minutes of the game went largely in the favour of the Reds however it was the visitors who had the first sniff of goal.
Despite Turnbull not being called into action in the form of a save, Scunthorpe’s threat in and around the Barnsley area was apparent from the off.
The Reds too looked dangerous on the attack, loanee Marcello Trotta on his full debut dazzled with some good skill in the Scunthorpe box on 9 minutes before he fed Hourihane who was able to supply a cross for Winnall.
Unable to make any real contact with the cross, the attack stopped as Winnall gave away a foul for a push on his marker.
Winning a corner in the 11th minute, Conor Hourihane delivered an in swinging ball but the good cross was headed clear by Iron defender Miguel Llera.
After 20 minutes the game lost a sense of the narrative that it could have had after Winnall limped off against his former club after appearing to pull a muscle stretching for the ball.
After playing with a man down for a few minutes, Kane Hemmings made his way into the action for the Reds to restore the numbers.
After a period where the game burst into life after a series of rash challenges and yellow cards, Marcelo Trotta gave the Reds the lead.
Connecting perfectly with Dudgeon’s pull back, Trotta smashed the ball past Slocombe in the Scunthorpe goal to put the Reds in front on his full debut.
To the Reds’ dismay, the game was level not even a minute later. With Scunthorpe attacking down the right hand side, Turnbull made a good save to deny the Iron before Paddy Madden found the equaliser on the rebound.
Trotta continued to impress on into the final stages of the first half, with five minutes left to play he fired a swinging volley towards goal on the turn but was denied by Slocombe.
In first half stoppage time, Paddy Madden again popped up in the Barnsley half and ran at the Reds’ defence before slotting past Turnbull to put the visitors ahead on the stroke of half time.
Second Half-
Despite seeing a lot of the ball in the opening stages of the second period, the Reds were left frustrated at the fact that they could find no way through Mark Robins’ defensively organised side.
Jean-Yves M’Voto replaced Peter Ramage not long after the restart as Danny Wilson looked to change the side’s defensive set-up.
Winning a corner 14 minutes into the half, the Reds had their first opportunity since the break. The chance went begging however despite Trotta claiming to have been impeded.
On the hour mark the Reds showed signs of fight, a promising move down the right hand side ended with Cole finding Berry in the area but he midfielder’s shot was blocked at its source.
Continuing to favour the right wing, Hemmings found room there a few minutes later and fired a quick ball into the box although nobody had kept up with the attackers run.
M’Voto could have got the Reds level on 65 minutes but he was just inches away from connecting with Hourihane’s delivery from a free kick following a challenge on Cole on the right side.
Barnsley’s best chance of the second half fell to Devante Cole on the 70 minute mark. Cleverly taking down a cross from the left, the Manchester City loanee then lined up his effort on goal but the shot sprayed over the bar.
Keeping hopes of an equaliser alive, Ross Turnbull kept the Reds in the game with 15 minutes to go by making a great save from an effort from Lyle Taylor.
Continuing to knock on the door in search of an equaliser, the Reds were almost caught on the break with ten minutes left but it was Turnbull again who stood strong, this time keeping out Liam O’Neil.
In injury time the Reds continued to press although it was the away side that remained on top despite some resolute efforts to find the equaliser.
Teams:
Reds: Turnbull, Dudgeon, Berry, Nyatanga, Cranie (C), Hourihane, Winnall (21), Ramage (52), Trotta, Bailey (66), Cole.
Subs: Davies, Brown, Treacy (66), Hemmings (21), M’Voto (52), Abbott, Lita.
Scunthorpe: Slocombe, Madden, Bishop, Hawkridge, Williams, Taylor (83), O’Neil, McSheffrey (71), Williams, Llera, Davey.
Subs: Olejnik, McAllister (71), Sparrow, Myrie-Williams, Adelakun, Kee (83), Brisley.
Referee: Mr James Linington
