Barnsley (U21s) 1-2 Sheffield Wednesday (U21s)

Barnsley (U21s) 1-2 Sheffield Wednesday (U21s)

Premier League Professional Development League

Friday 7th October 2022

Despite being the dominant team for 38 minutes, Barnsley let a lead slip and somehow lost this Professional Development League game against Sheffield Wednesday.

In a battle between two South Yorkshire rivals (who happen to be the bottom two in the PDL North Section - not that the league table actually means that much), the Reds were very good for much of the first half in atrocious pouring rain and led through Amir Ariely’s fifth-minute header from a left-sided cross.

Barnsley continued to dominate, having more possession and more territorial pressure but despite a few flashes of promise from Fabio Jalo who always looked a threat owing to his tricky footwork, and a ball which was flashed dangerously across the box by Jack Butterfill after he’d initially chased it down and done well to keep it in play, they couldn’t carve out a proper chance where they were really able to test the capabilities of Wednesday ‘keeper Luke Jackson.

With the hosts having comfortably been the better team for 38 minutes (and the visitors basically unable to get the ball forward to Bailey Cadamarteri’s feet - apart from one instance where he slipped over on the wet surface anyway), it was something of a bolt from the blue that Wednesday made it 1-1 from their first attempt of any kind as David Agbontohoma stooped low to head home from a corner.

Goals change games and that’s pretty much what happened from this point onwards.

Despite the fact rain was still hammering down, there was suddenly much more of a visible belief about Wednesday’s overall play. They began to retain the ball better, get it forward more and look more threatening; they began to get Jay Glover into the game more too, and when he won a free-kick deep on the right channel just before the break, the resulting set-piece delivery into the area had to be palmed away by Barnsley ‘keeper Jamie Searle.

The Reds had the last chance of the half when Keegan Hartley forced a routine enough save out of a back-peddling Jackson with a dipping 30-yard half-volley after some quick and sharp build-up play involving Ariely, Hayden Pickard and Jalo, but as things transpired that would be the closest Barnsley came to actually scoring a second goal.

That’s because the second half was much more balanced with Wednesday able to get Cadamarteri into the game more.

Not long after the re-start, he played a crucial part in the Owls' second goal when he was allowed a run at the defence following a quick through ball and his cut-back was ‘shanked’ (no better word for it) into the net by Will Trueman with the ball looping up and over Searle who won’t want to see it again because it looks worse on camera than it did in real-time.

With Wednesday leading 2-1 and the rain finally starting to ease, Barnsley tried to get back into the contest but they toiled more than anything else as the game seemed to drift towards the full-time whistle without a constant barrage of intense pressure. It wasn't great to watch.

Cadamarteri nearly made it 3-1 when he got on the end of a cross and headed just over, and up at the other end there was a nervous moment for the Wednesday defence (who didn’t look that comfortable or cohesive as a unit at any point) when Jalo went to ground under a challenge just inside the box, close to the byline, only for the referee to wave play on.

That penalty shout was the closest Barnsley came to actually forcing an equaliser - because there was no serious work for the Owls ‘keeper to do in the latter stages, and Wednesday will be happy to have got three points as it should help to banish memories of their 3-0 derby defeat to Sheffield United at Hillsborough earlier in the week.

Overall, it was good for Barnsley for 38 minutes before it all went pear-shaped. 

Will Lancaster was excellent during that time (doing a great job in keeping Bailey Cadamarteri quiet) and he defended well, barring perhaps the second goal. He also played a good 50-yard pass to feet in the first half and 'clipped it' into the channels a lot in the latter stages. 

Harrison Nejman picked up a lot of things and made a number of decent defensive contributions - including a sliding interception on the near touchline. He also retained the ball under pressure in tight pockets of space a few times before tiring late on. 

Theo Chapman had a weaving run at one point where he carried the ball forward under pressure, and Fabio Jalo always looked capable of causing issues against an imposing Owls back three who didn't convince me because they never looked that comfortable.

Then, in the second half, Wednesday looked the more assured team. 

Jay Glover did more (after an extremely quiet first 40 minutes), Bailey Cadamarteri played a crucial role in what turned out to be the winning goal, could have scored himself with the header, and showed a few snippets of why I think he’ll forge a decent career for himself. The Owls as a whole executed their game-plan a lot better as the equaliser galvanised them in some respects and they then seemed to have a belief which just wasn’t there whilst they were 1-0 down.

It wasn't a classic but there's plenty to learn from (for both teams) and plenty that was learned amongst onlookers. 

P.S: Thank God the Oakwell Training Pitch has a roof!