Barnsley (U21s) 3-0 Burnley (U21s)

Barnsley (U21s) 3-0 Burnley (U21s)

Professional Development League

Tuesday 14th March 2023

The funfair is in the car park at Oakwell right now and this was quite a fun afternoon for Barnsley’s U21s as they comfortably beat Burnley.

In a reverse of the scoreline when the two teams met at Turf Moor back in November, the Reds this time gave a strong account of themselves and went 1-0 up by scoring with their first chance of the game as Aiden Marsh cushioned a volley low and hard into the bottom corner after only four minutes.

Burnley’s early defending could best be described as lackadaisical (others might use a stronger word) and when their entire backline just switched off from Barry Cotter’s open-play cross soon afterwards, they were extremely fortunate to escape. Marsh was the only player who showed any kind of awareness or anticipation to connect with the cross and was unlucky to see his initial effort come back off the bar before the ball was scrambled away following the rebound. 

A very lucky escape for the visitors!

The Clarets saw a shot blocked at the other end thanks to Robbie Cundy, but Barnsley still looked strong and Luke Thomas soon drilled an effort into the side-netting before Fabio Jalo and Jon Russell were reduced to speculative efforts from distance in the minutes leading up to half-time.

Straight after the break, Marsh tested the capabilities of Burnley half-time sub Jack Turner (on for Taylor Harwood-Bellis who was making his return from injury) in a foot race which culminated in him having a shot which had to be parried away by the visiting ‘keeper.

Eventually, it was the case of ‘Cometh the hour mark, cometh the man in good form’ - that being Jordan Helliwell because he superbly doubled the lead by zipping one straight into the top corner at speed after a half-hearted clearance from a corner dropped straight to him on the edge of the box.

That goal was decent enough but Helliwell’s contribution to make it 3-0 was even better. This time, he ‘doubled up’ with Luke Thomas to cleverly win the ball back close to the halfway line and instantly made an intelligent run into empty space down the right flank. Having received possession from Thomas (who now drifted with intent towards the area), Helliwell played a low ball into Fabio Jalo’s feet before it was moved back to Thomas who turned his marker in style and curled home a beauty from 20 yards.

A quality move from start to finish; great play, great execution and at 3-0, there was no way Burnley were coming back!

To their credit, the Clarets did try and salvage a consolation and in the best of two or three openings, Marcel Lewis showed good movement to weave his way in-behind and smack an effort goalwards that cannoned back off the bar.

But the other main incident in the latter stages came when Jalo tried to work his way across the byline inside the box only for contact to be made by a defender behind him.

It was blatantly obvious that it was either a penalty (for which there was a strong shout) or a goal-kick (with no foul being deemed to have occurred) but instead, the referee made an absolute Eric Tinkler of a decision as he bizarrely awarded a corner - not even consulting with his linesman who then just shrugged his shoulders when Luke Thomas quizzed him about it afterwards.

With a few flakes of snow falling, everyone ready for the final whistle, and a biting wind making it feel very cold, Danny Benson came on as a late substitute and committed a schoolboy error by wearing no base-layer to go underneath his short-sleeved shirt.

The referee insisted on playing every second of four minutes injury-time when he could have just blown his whistle on 90 and saved everyone the hassle, but there were no further goals so this was a good day for Barnsley and they deserved three points.

They were dominant. They set the tone with the early goal, showed ruthlessness, worked significantly harder than Burnley’s players - especially out of possession where they showed more of a desire to win the ball back. The best-performing five or six players on the pitch all wore a red shirt and nobody can argue the result was merited.

Burnley had some tidy individuals who showed snippets of what they’re about - and the best of them were probably No.8 (Jez Davies) who moved the ball well and tried to be creative, plus No.7 (Ronaldo Forraj) who gave a reasonable account of himself and I didn’t mind what he was about. And I know from watching No.11 (Marcel Lewis) a few times in the past what he's all about.

But as a team they were second best, well-beaten and this is a game they won't want to particularly dwell on for very long.

Quite a few Barnsley players will be pleased with how they performed - whether it Barry Cotter (used a lot on the right flank and produced some good balls), the defence which kept the clean-sheet or the midfielders Harrison Nejman and Jon Russell (besides the shot that ended up in about Row Q), but it's the three scorers who'll grab the headlines.

Wearing some borderline acceptable gloves, Aiden Marsh put in a strong shift and caused Taylor Harwood-Bellis problems - particularly in the early stages. Good technique for the goal and I can’t speak highly enough of how good his movement and anticipation was for the chance that hit the bar just afterwards. Luke Thomas provided lots of quality (as to be expected for a ‘senior’ player in an U21s game) and it’s crazy to think how long he went without scoring not too long ago, given how good his technique was for the one he scored here. Meanwhile, Jordan Helliwell - playing at RCB this week, had yet another strong performance to go with a string of other strong performances lately and he yet again featured in the big moments. His goal was decent anyway (top strike - pure venom and no messing about it) and his involvement to make it 3-0 was more impressive - demonstrating a sheer desire to win the ball back on the halfway line which can only be applauded. Without that work-rate, the third goal would never have happened so it's an instant 'respect-winner' - and what a pleasure it's been to watch Jordan and see him in such good form since he returned from injury a few months ago! Top stuff!

Barnsley: Adam Hayton, Barry Cotter, Eduino Vaz, Jordan Helliwell, Robbie Cundy, Rudi Pache, Harrison Nejman, Jon Russell, Fabio Jalo, Luke Thomas, Aiden Marsh. Subs: Kareem Hassan-Smith, Charlie Hickingbottom, Emmaisa Nzondo, Danny Benson, Jamie Searle.