Half time at the Amex
Reds: Gonzalez, Golbourne, Foster, Dawson, Davies, Wiseman, Harewood, Cywka, Mellis, Etuhu, Stones.
Subs: Ankergren, Dunk, Calderon, Harley, Agdestein, LuaLua, Barker.
Brighton: Kuszczak, Bruno, Greer, El-Abd, Crofts, Barnes, Noone, Mackail-Smith, Dicker, Bridcutt, Bridge.
Teams
Half time.
Mellis had Kuszczak worried with a wicked 30 yard effort but luckily for the former Man United ‘keeper Bruno was on hand to clear the rebound before Davies could pounce.
Just as it seemed the Reds were back, Brighton hit back and struck another goal. Barnes swept past Gonzalez but Mackail-Smith got the last touch to claim a lucky goal he knew nothing about on 35 minutes.
The Reds were handed a lifeline into the match when Jacob Mellis was clipped in the area following a spell of pressure. Craig Davies, wearing the armband for the afternoon, powered the penalty home which was too strong for the hand of Kuszczak.
minute John Stones was shown a yellow card to make it both Reds’ full-backs into the referee’s notebook following from Golbourne’s early booking. th By the 27
Barnsley were finally into the match and Tomasz Cywka forced Kuszczak into a smart save with a neat long-range strike that seemed destined for the top corner. The shot came after the Reds’ first real spell of possession in the Seagulls’ half.
Gonzalez did well to smother a jinking run by Noone but the Colombian must have been asking questions of his defenders after the winger was allowed to dance into the area with just over 20 minutes played.
Things went from bad to worse as the next shot on goal found the net for the Seagulls. Wayne Bridge was the man who struck home from 25 yards into the bottom-left corner of Gonzalez who was simply a bystander.
It was a disastrous start for the Reds on the south coast. After a free-kick was awarded to the hosts despite Golbourne claiming to have clearly won the ball from Noone – the winger was crying for the physio but miraculously instantly recovered to whip in a free-kick that Gonzalez spilled into the path of Barnes who thumped into an empty net from a handful of yards.
When the Reds battled back into the match they shot themselves in the foot to allow Brighton a real foothold of the contest at half time.
Barnsley 1 (Davies pen 34)
Brighton 3 (Barnes 2, Bridge 13, Mackail-Smith 35) Fourth Official: Paul Kelly
Assistant Referees: Ian Cooper and William Bull
Referee: Roger East
Subs: Lidakevicius, Hassell, Collins, Dagnall, Cranie, Clark, Rose.
