Hugo Colace’s first half strike gave the Tykes a 1-0 win in the South Yorkshire derby at Oakwell yesterday; it was the first time that they had gained victory over the Blades since March 2000.
United started with a 4-5-1 formation; this owing to the shortage of strikers with Darius Henderson (injured), Daniel Bogdanovic and Richard Cresswell (both suspended) all unavailable and relied heavily on starting forward Ched Evans.
Jamie Ward however returned from injury to add another option from the substitute’s bench, but this was only to ease any pressure on young Jordan Slew – the club’s second only 100% fit striker.
Gary Speed handed a debut to former Arsenal, Everton and Ipswich Town keeper Richard Wright, but he had to be replaced early in the second half to a thigh strain.
Both Reds and the Blades attacked from the start and showed intent that this South Yorkshire Derby wasn’t to be a drab scoreless draw. The first chance of the match fell to Adam Hammill who has been vigorous all season and has caught the eye of various top level teams.
The former Liverpool youth winger whipped his 25 yard free-kick over the bar – Nathan Doyle then shot at goal soon after with Kyle Bartley making a good goal stopper.
Barnsley took control of the game but at the other end the visitors almost broke the deadlock, full-back Andy Taylor firing wide from distance.
Five minutes before the break the Tykes took the lead and netted what eventually turned to be the match winner; Jim O’Brien worked well on the right wing to centre a cross which was met by a close range finish from Hugo Colace.
For United, the second half was a better half than the first, but was forced to make an unscheduled substitution early on when Richard Wright broke down before attempting a goal-kick; he was immediately replaced by regular shot stopper Steve Simonsen.
Former Stoke keeper Simonsen was soon called into action, preventing Hammill from close range from doubling their lead. Minutes later he prevented Bobby Hassell, palming his shot away.
The Blades searched for an equaliser but to no prevail, they looked good when Jamie Ward bolstered in attack, but despite the brilliance of Mark Yeates they just couldn’t find a way past Luke Steele in the Reds net.
Maybe if Gary Speed had, had a full strength forward line to choose from you would be reading a different report, but sadly this was so. United were forced to choose too many defensive players which hampered any progression upfront.
2,003 visiting supporters showed there force at Oakwell in what was a reasonable following against a 12,000+ crowed. But in all the performance wasn’t acceptable and a much needed improvement is needed if the Blades are to avoid relegation.