Barnsley 0-3 Lincoln City

Barnsley 0-3 Lincoln City

Papa John's Trophy

Tuesday 30th August 2022

Goals can often completely change the course of a game and two in the space of a mad five-minute spell by Teddy Bishop, plus a pointless red card for Barnsley's James Norwood, did just that for Lincoln City - and helped the Imps secure all three points in this Papa John's Trophy Group Stage match.

For the opening 15 minutes, Barnsley more than had a foothold and matched their opponents. They had an early shot and got the ball down well with Aiden Marsh involved in a lot of the play - whether it be from his 'early marker' of a strong challenge to try and win possession to dropping back to deeper areas to receive the ball and play passes. It was decent enough stuff.

However, the Reds then endured that torturous period which resulted in a sense of bewilderment right around Oakwell and contributed so heavily towards the eventual outcome.

Bishop made it 1-0 in straightforward fashion when he got goal-side of Will Hondermarck (who needs to track back more than he does) at the far-post to convert the opener from Charles Vernam's right-sided cross before matters quickly went from bad to worse when Barnsley 'keeper Jack Walton came rushing out of his area to meet a long downfield ball but shanked his clearance straight to Bishop who slotted into the unguarded net from 30 yards.

At 2-0 behind, Barnsley faced an uphill challenge and it became one of Mt.Everest-style proportions when Norwood stupidly flicked an elbow towards Jay Benn's face right infront of the dugouts. It happened 10 yards from the referee, 10 yards from the linesman and 10 yards from the Fourth Official; in that scenario the officials don't need VAR to help them because they've got eyes and can see it for themselves and Norwood was duly given his marching orders with a three-game ban now to be served for violent conduct.

Questions should be asked over why a senior player got himself sent off in such cheap circumstances because the dismissal totally killed Barnsley's hopes of getting back into the game. Lincoln retained the ball brilliantly against 10 men thereafter and always found the extra space against their opponents' adopted 4-3-2 (or 4-4-1 out of possession) formation. The Reds just had very little to go on as an attacking force.

They lost another experienced player when Herbie Kane was replaced by Joe Ackroyd in midfield just past the half-hour mark and although 'Ackers' brought some extra energy and was vocal in trying to organise things straight away after his introduction, his best contribution was at the other end when he blocked a shot to stop Lincoln bagging a third goal before half-time.

Walton prodced a flying fingertip save to half-atone for his earlier mistake but on the whole it was grim stuff and Barnsley were booed off at the break (though I'm not sure what that is meant to achieve?)

Despite a positive start to the second half; Ackroyd closing down straight from Lincoln's kick-off and making a decent interception followed by a chance which saw Matty Wolfe skew a shot narrowly over the upright after Jasper Moon's long-throw caused a few problems inside the box, slowly but surely the Imps began to settle down and dictate the game again. 

I never read anything into possession statistics (mainly because I know how it's calculated) but Lincoln always seemed to be on the ball during the final half-hour. They were good at it too and that, coupled with their extra-man advantage, meant Barnsley never really looked like getting back into the game. Although his movement wasn't the best, Slobodan Tedic seemed totally isolated to the point where he was almost anonymous. It wasn't a debut he'll want to remember!

Substitutions meant Barnsley finished the night with what is more or less their U21s team on the pitch and Lincoln got a third goal to wrap up their win in injury-time when Jamie Robson's ball across the goalmouth was simply tapped home by Jovon Makama.

It was then game over!

On a personal level, knowing the sacrifices he's made to get to where he is, it was disappointing to hear Jasper Moon come in for some ferocious criticism from his own fans (to the point where some of it was abusive). 

I've no idea how he'll respond to it emotion-wise and whether it'll be water off a ducks back or something which will eat away at him but he deserves better rather than idiots hurling out 'X, Y and Z' towards him. Granted, he didn't have his best game (and he wasn't alone in that respect) but it happens. It's part and parcel of football and even the big dogs in the Premier League will have had stinkers or difficult spells. It's in difficult times where players need support and encouragement to build up their confidence again.

I actually don't mind the yellow card he received because if he doesn't make that tackle and bring the lad down then Lincoln had the opportunity to break. It was a classic 'taking one for the team'. He probably crapped himself a minute or so later when he connected with a high boot on a Lincoln player and being caught on the ball later in the first half was something he'll want to forget, but on the flip-side he delivered two good balls into the box (one early in the first half before it was recycled and Will Hondermarck put in another cross and then one early in the second that reached Aiden Marsh). Barnsley's best chance on the night also came via his long-throw - a specific 'skill' within his make-up as a player which makes him an asset to a team and will endear him to plenty of managers around the country.

He deserves better than being scapegoated by a certain element who want to play the 'blame game' and look for an easy target, so keep your head up if you read this, Jasper, because you'll get through it and you'll have a decent enough career. I back my own opinions and trust my judgement on that.

Despite the scoreline, Aiden Marsh deserves a mention. Even though he'll always be loved at Oakwell just because he's a local lad who always has a grin on his face, he worked relentlessly to try and make something happen. In an 11v11 scenario, that effort and endeavour might have led to something. Four times when it was 0-0 in the first quarter-hour, he dropped back to link-up play; finding and receiving passes well, he was positionally aware after the red card (forming part of the midfield four out-of-possession) and his attitude, application and effort didn't go unnoticed.

Congratulations as well to the young lads who came off the bench for their first team debuts - every professional footballer everywhere can immediately recall their debuts, you've earned it on merit, and if you keep working hard, you'll put yourself in a position to potentially get more opportunities of this sort as the season progresses.

Doncaster beat Newcastle U21s on penalties in the other group game which means if Barnsley lose to the Toon Army in 90 minutes in their next fixture in this competition, they'll be eliminated - so, although this competition might not be the highest priority, there's a bit of pressure to relish and a wrong which needs to be righted.

If Lincoln win their next game which is against Doncaster - or beat Newcastle in their final group fixture, then they'll be through to the knockout stages. Separately, good luck to the Imps' Charley Kendall who has just joined Sutton United on a season-long loan; a class player who I'll be keeping an eye on and someone else I'd back to have a decent career.