Barnsley (U21s) 1-1 Peterborough United (U21s)

Barnsley (U21s) 1-1 Peterborough United (U21s)

Professional Development League

Tuesday 27th September 2022

This game wasn’t enthralling by any means, as Barnsley and Peterborough United picked up a point apiece in a 1-1 draw in the Professional Development League.

Both the goals came in the second half.

Peterborough took the lead when Kai Corbett’s free-kick from out wide found the bottom corner - possibly even taking a minor deflection en route, before Keegan Hartley levelled things up on 65 minutes.

Barnsley’s last PDL game was almost a month ago when they produced a strong team performance in a 2-0 win over Charlton. Peterborough, meanwhile, were in action only a fortnight ago when they were narrowly beaten 2-1 by Sheffield United at Bramall Lane.

On a sunny and pleasant enough afternoon, Barnsley got things underway and they initially looked the stronger of the two teams.

The first chance came on 10 minutes when Hayden Pickard’s free-kick from out on the left found Jasper Moon who saw his stooping header clip the post before the ball was hurriedly cleared by Peterborough’s defence.

Moon’s technique in that chance was excellent and another player who impressed in the early stages was Harrison Nejman. The blonde-haired midfielder’s passing was really good - linking-up really well with others by playing balls to feet, and he himself went close to scoring when he found empty space inside the box and drilled a powerful effort across goal and narrowly wide of the far-post.

Fabio Jalo also curled a shot wide from the edge of the area following some good anticipation by Will Hondermarck who nipped the ball off the Posh’s Dan Butler to set another move in motion.

Hondermarck looked sharp and was anticipating things particularly well at this early stage and when he intercepted a loose pass by Butler on 17 minutes, he played a one-two with Jalo and advanced into the box where his eventual attempt at the near-post was smothered by the visiting ‘keeper.

It took Peterborough a while to impose themselves in the game and, after Nejman tested Will Lakin with a 25-yard shot from Hartley’s lay-off, the team wearing blue had a little period of pressure in the run up to half-time - although the only time Barnsley ‘keeper Paul Cooper (named as a trialist last time out against Charlton) was tested was when he smothered a cross towards his near-post ahead of Corbett who was sliding in to meet it.

The Posh lacked accuracy from a free-kick on 40 minutes, before Barnsley had the final chance of the first half which also came from a set-piece. Nobody seemed to cotton on to the fact that the Reds’ two centre-backs were about to combine and Will Lancaster’s deep free-kick was played straight to Moon, who saw another well-executed header this time drop narrowly wide of the post.

In truth, the latter stages of the first half were ‘scrappy’ in comparison to the first 20-25 minutes where Barnsley were dominant and things continued in more or less the same way after the re-start with not that much in the way of quality.

This time, Peterborough began the brighter and, after Lancaster blocked a shot from open play, the visitors soon took the lead. Corbett’s left-sided free-kick beat Barnsley’s defensive wall, then everyone else inside the area, before the ball nestled in the bottom corner. There might have been a deflection en route but, holding his arms aloft in the immediate aftermath, it was clear Corbett was claiming it. Barnsley’s players meanwhile stood screaming at each about the ‘lack of shape’ which contributed to the goal. 0-1.

The Posh continued to look brighter and would have doubled their lead just past the hour mark had it not been for an excellent save by Cooper. The chance arose as Charlie O’Connell got the better of Pickard thanks to some clever footwork out wide and worked his way into the box where he found Kellan Hickinson with a piercing cut-back. The striker then opened up an angle for himself to shoot, but his effort was superbly anticipated by Cooper who used his feet to deny him.

And only two minutes later, the importance of Cooper’s save was underlined as Barnsley hauled themselves back to level terms. A ball in from the right found Danny Benson inside a packed area and his knock-back to Hartley was emphatically slammed into the back of the net. 1-1.

Back level again, the game was crying out for someone on either team to take things by the scruff of the neck, rise to the occasion and play an influential part in helping their team get a winner.

However, what unfolded in the remaining 25 minutes were more scrappy exchanges and not much goalmouth incident - even though Jack Butterfill nearly got a match-winner when he got infront of a defender and leapt fantastically to connect with Pickard’s teasing ball into the box, but his powerful header cannoned back off the upright.

Substitute Josiah Dyer was also played through late on but didn’t trouble the ‘keeper as he snatched at his effort and, in pretty much the last action of the game, Peterborough’s Gabe Overton had to be helped off the pitch after he pulled up with what appeared to be a hamstring injury.

On the whole, this game overall won’t live for too long in the memory. A draw was probably a fair result (albeit Barnsley created some good chances early on) and no player stood out ‘head and shoulders’ above everyone else throughout the 90 minutes.

A few decent contributions of note which are worth a mention go to Keegan Hartley and Jack Butterfill. The first took his goal well and didn’t have a bad game, whereas the latter tried to use his body and physical strength to his advantage whenever he could - especially so after an incident where he knocked the ball out of Dan Butler’s hands early on (and got lectured by the referee for it). They both worked hard and were a nuisance.

Will Lancaster was solid and steady, if unspectacular, in defence. He made a couple of important blocks at the start of the second half (they don’t go unnoticed) and there was that set-piece delivery for Jasper Moon which they clearly planned in the seconds leading up to it. I can’t believe nobody in the Posh defence twigged onto what was going to happen but the move highlighted one of those little partnerships between individuals within a team.

One player who has grown on me considerably recently is Harrison Nejman. He began this game in a confident manner, had two shots on goal and made things look easy with the simplicity of his link-up play. It was excellent - particularly the weight/accuracy of his passing and his intelligence to get into effective positions where he could hurt the opposition. As the game dynamic altered, he wasn’t able to replicate that positive first 25 minutes to such a meaningful effect, but with Joe Ackroyd having gone out on loan to Guiseley and plenty of U21s games coming up, now would seem to be the time for him to fully-establish himself as a key player in this team. He’s got the ability to do it and I’d love to see it happen.

As for the others, Paul Cooper underlined his importance with his save just before the equaliser and looks to be a solid ‘keeper. Danny Benson was alright with his footwork on a few occasions and will be pleased to have claimed the assist too. Jasper Moon posed the biggest attacking threat, via his headers, out of all the defenders and also got to use his long-throw weapon on two occasions. Fabio Jalo made some good bits of movement, got an effort away quickly when he received a ball and it’s clear that he’s going to be a good player in a few years with more experience under his belt. He doesn’t look out of place whatsoever at U21s level. Hayden Pickard got turned a couple of times defensively and has work to do in that respect but the quality of his crosses and his attacking play was strong - and he initiated some of the neat moves early on. He already has got better with experience and will continue to do so. Will Hondermarck began by being sharp, alert and anticipated situations quite well before his performance tailed off and he was eventually substituted after a mini-melee involving a few Peterborough players which just seemed a bit needless. Jean-Claude Makiessi didn’t really make a notable impact prior to his substitution in the triple change just before the hour mark. Out of the four substitutes, Amir Ariely was perhaps the liveliest amongst them - knocking some good balls down the line. It wasn't the easiest of games for anyone to step into but he did alright to a point.

Nobody really stood out for Peterborough. Dan Butler again added the experience and know-how that you’d expect from a senior player when he’s involved in U21s football (though even he got caught a few times by Will Hondermarck). The frontmen weren’t bad, albeit they were nullified well by the Barnsley defence, whilst Charlie O’Connell played at right-wing-back and again showed snippets of what I like about him thanks to his footwork and composure on the ball.

Barnsley are next in action when they’re 'sent to Coventry' - the game taking place this coming Friday; whereas Peterborough host Birmingham next week.