A comfortable victory at Oakwell this afternoon for Paul Harsley's 23s!
Barnsley got back to winning ways on Friday afternoon after putting three past 10-man Millwall at Oakwell.
A bizarre ending to the first half saw Cameron McGeehan open the scoring from the penalty spot, just two minutes after Mamadou Thiam hit the post from 12 yards.
McGeehan scored the Reds’ third penalty of the afternoon with eight minutes left, before Thiam tucked away a neat free-kick with the last touch of the game.
Millwall’s Harry Donovan was sent off for a deliberate handball in the lead-up to the final spot-kick, as the Reds claimed all three points to open September.
The match began evenly with the majority of the first half seeing half-chances at both ends, with Dylan Mottley-Henry firing just off target from the edge of the area, and Millwall’s Kris Twardek denied well by Nick Townsend in the Reds goal.
The first 45 minutes sprung to life when Mottley-Henry was brought down on the byline, with new arrival Thiam stepping up. The striker sent Ryan Sanford the wrong way but his effort struck the left-hand post, with the visitors appearing to be surviving at a first-half stalemate.
Moments after, a handball in the midst of more Reds pressure saw McGeehan offered Barnsley’s second bite of the cherry, one which he duly took, tucking away a side-footed shot into the bottom-right corner.
HALF TIME: Barnsley 1-0 Millwall
Millwall found themselves on the front foot as the second half got underway, with Barnsley defending well from crosses and balls forward.
Townsend then produced a heroic triple save to preserve the slender led with 20 minutes remaining, denying Twardek, Lewis White and Kristian Brymora with some sensational goalkeeping.
That paved the way for the Reds to wrap the game up, with midfielder Harry Donovan diving to his left to handle Kane Swinburn’s goalbound strike. The red card was brandished, and McGeehan stepped up once again to fire home from the spot, with a powerful low drive down the middle.
There was still time for Thiam to get his goal, polishing off a fine win in injury time with a neatly scored low free-kick from 25 yards, glossing the scoreline on a solid Reds performance.
FULL TIME: Barnsley 3-0 Millwall
Reds: Townsend, Wardle, Williams, Bird ©, Pinnock, Lindsay, Mottley-Henry, McGeehan, Thiam, Kay, Swinburn.
Subs: Walton, Fielding, Dolan, Wolfe, Ocran.
Millwall: Sanford, Macnamara, Oviedo, Donovan, Mbulu, Rooney ©, Olaofe, Hanson, Brymora, Twardek, White.
Subs: Wicks, Jackson, Saundery-Henry, Neary, Debrah.
