Barnsley 3-2 Burnley

By: Oli | September 23rd, 2009

Ahhh, I love the cups. There’s something about the way that they’re so much more relaxed than a league game that makes the teams really play smoothly. We haven’t played that well since, well, Chelsea, and that made for one fantastic game.

Both teams played first teams, and both teams wanted the win, and this showed up in the performances. Robins chose the same 4-4-2 formation as Saturday, with Macken playing instead of the cup-tied Andy Gray. We came out to win, which is the only real approach to any home game, and we got what was deserved. The game was played in a good spirit, and also in a good vain, with both teams attacking fluidly and often.

Burnley’s first goal was unavoidable, and there was no way of stopping the surprisingly route one attempt. Burnley are a decent side, and I give them a good chance of survival this season. In particular the two wingers, Guerrero (is he ex-Madrid?) and Chris Eagles are just a different class, and could run rings around most players for days. Gray did a surprisingly efficient job on Eagles, but Guerrero ripped Kozluk up for large parts of the game, mostly in the second half. The defense conceded two goals, but was actually very good, just Burnley’s wingers were deadly on this, and I think most, nights.

Now, onto the attack. The goals can be seen in the above highlights video. We started off by focusing on Jacob Butterfield to let us start flowing, but soon it was taken out of his hands, as Anderson put in the best attacking performance he has made in a Barnsley shirt, and Adam Hammill was unplayable on the other side. I credit Hume with the first goal, he deserved it. Finally, if any of you mugs claim to have expected Anderson to score that, you’re a liar. I wasn’t aware he could shoot. The highlights video doesn’t show him missing an open goal about 2 minutes earlier, which only added to my shock. Now, I’d seen a goal similar to that before, right here. Funny, hey.

On Saturday, I had a rave about the referee, who was abysmal. The news that Mark Clattenberg was taking charge tonight made my heart sink, but to be fair, he did a surprisingly good job. There were a few of the classic Premiership referee decisions, but overall he kept control well.

And, I’d just like to wish a swift recovery to Burnley forward Martin Paterson. The video shows Brian Jensen going down after jumping into Moore. He only has a dead leg, and could be fit for Saturday, however Martin Paterson was also stretchered off after falling over in the middle of the pitch for no apparent reason. He has tweaked a cartridge, and will need surgery

BBC match report here, Barnsley one here.

So, the tactics of Mark Robins worked brilliantly, and the attack looked unstoppable. But how about the individuals:

Rob Kozluk: 5 – He didn’t play that badly, and the cross for goal one was deadly. But, while Julian Gray held up Eagles all game, he carried on getting beaten by Guerrero.
O’Neil Thompson: 8 – Came on at half time for an injured Darren Moore, and made like a brick wall. He headed and blocked like the veteran, but he also had more pace than Foster and came up with some fantastic long balls. A great debut at centre-back.
Hugo! Hugo! Hugo! Hugo: 7 – He scored, he scored, he scored, he scored.
Anderson: 9 – I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again; GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
Adam Hammill: 9 – Unplayable. Every time he got the ball during the first half, he embarrassed Eckersley at right-back for Burnley, who clearly should have been sent off. Got the ball less in the second half, and only ran at the right back once. The right back wound up with a yellow card. And that say it all, really.
HUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMEEEEEEEEE: 9 – But bordering on a 10. Ran for 90 minutes, as well as producing his world class set pieces. All that was missing was the goal.
John Macken: 8 – He put in a very good challenge on the cup-tied Grays place here, and deserved his goal. I don’t think he will start against QPR, because he finished the game exhausted.

The fact that only 5000 home fans came to watch one of the most enjoyable games at Oakwell for years is a crying shame, and I can only hope that this fantastic performance will draw the support to Oakwell in future.

Mark Robins has drafted in extra defensive talent, as we bring in Ryan Shotton from Stoke. He is a young product of the academy there, and is looking to improve. The same can be said of young right-back Carl Dickinson, another Potter coming on a three-month loan. The official site says that he has “earned rave reviews” during previous spells in this league. I’ve heard a rumor that one of these two is a long throw expert of Rory Delap proportion. Can anyone elaborate?

The draw for the next round of the cup is on Saturday, and as I type these words the lock on my computer says 19:45, as the remaining 3rd round games begin. Will we get a Man United, or maybe a home tie against Peterborough?