REPORT
Barnsley - 1 (Fletcher 81’)Rovers - 0
Saturday 20th February, 2016
Oakwell, Barnsley
SkyBet League One
Having suffered a narrow defeat at the hands of Sheffield United on Saturday, Rovers return to action with another South Yorkshire derby making the short journey to face Barnsley at Oakwell.
Darren Ferguson’s side had not lost on the road since 27th October 2015 and a win would be their first double of the season having beaten the Tykes 2-1 at Keepmoat Stadium in October.
Conor Grant and Thorsten Stuckmann returned to the side for Darren Ferguson whilst Paul Keegan captained the side due to a James Coppinger injury.
Barnsley had a chance inside the first five minutes. As Lloyd Isgrove picked up the ball, he delivered the cross. Attacking the far post Sam Winnall threw himself at the header which was inches past Stuckmann’s left post.
The home side really applied pressure to the Rovers defence and dominated possession early on. Adam Hammill was the next to go close as a wonderful run saw him cut inside before shooting narrowly past the post.
Rovers first chance of the game came from a Conor Grant corner. As Mitchell Lund got on the end of it and headed towards goal, the conditions didn’t favour him as the ball skidded off his head and wide of the target.
Stuckmann was called into action again as he made a brilliant reaction save from point blank range following another Barnsley corner.
HALF TIME: Barnsley 0-0 Rovers
Darren Ferguson made two changes at half time. James Coppinger and Craig Alcock were introduced to the game, adding some experience to the side.
The visitors started the second half lively and looked to take the lead. In acres of space on the right hand side, Coppinger picked out Lund. Driving at goal his powerful shot was parried by Adam Davies.
As the second half went on the game opened up and it was end to end. Rovers looked the better side but the hosts looked a definite threat on the counter.
Conor Hourihane forced Stuckmann into yet another save as he hit one from range following some sloppy defending from Rovers. However, the German goalkeeper was there to turn it behind for a corner.
Following a run of good saves, Barnsley finally managed to beat Stuckmann and went ahead with ten minutes to play. Sam Winnall struck a low shot at goal and despite Stuckmann making a good save, Ashley Fletcher was there to score the rebound from 3 yards leaving the Rovers keeper no chance.
Lynden Gooch was introduced to the game with ten minutes to play as Rovers pushed for an equaliser but Barnsley did enough to see the game out and take the points.
FULL TIME: Barnsley 0-0 Rovers
Team Lineups-
Barnsley: Davies, Bree, Roberts, Mawson, White (Williams 21'), Watkins, Isgrove (Fletcher 60’), Hourihane, Hammill, Brownhill (Scowen 60’), Winnall
Unused Subs: Townsend, Tuton, Nyatanga, Khan
Cautions: White
Rovers: Stuckmann, Lund, Evina, McCullough, Williams, Tyson, Keegan (c) (Gooch 80’), Taylor-Sinclair, Grant, Stewart (Alcock 52’), Middleton (Coppinger 45’)
Unused Subs: Marosi, Mandeville, Chaplow, Butler
Cautions: Grant 21’
Attendance: 11,638 (1421)