Barnsley are through to the knockout stages of the Papa John's Trophy after an entertaining clash with local rivals Doncaster Rovers this evening.
A double from both Josh Martin and Fabio Jalo saw the Reds home and into the next stage of the competition, whilst former Barnsley man George Miller grabbed his own brace too.
The Reds settled into the contest well, controlling possession of the ball and dictating the tempo of the play. This early spell resulted in us taking the lead just 10 minutes into the game.
Serbian forward Slobodan Tedic dispossessed the Rovers defence and passed to Jalo on the edge of the aarea. The young attacker slid in the on-loan Man City man, who ran through on goal before squaring to Martin who was on hand to sweep home inside the area.
We doubled our lead shortly after the opener, with Jalo scoring his first professional goal. He was fed the ball with his back to goal in the box. The attacker spun on a sixpence and fired an effort past the home ‘keeper Louis Jones on 20 minutes.
The pressure did not stop from the Reds, and soon after we had a third. After scoring his first for the club, Jalo became Barnsley’s youngest brace scorer just six minutes later. A Barnsley break allowed Martin to provide once again by sweeping the ball to his fellow goalscorer on the left. The 16-year-old slotted home with aplomb and gave the Reds a 3-0 lead inside 26 minutes.
It was four for Michael Duff’s men in the 34th minute. Martin doubled his tally for the evening, latching onto a poor clearance by Ro-Shaun Williams in the area, shimmying, and drilling into the bottom corner to make it four for the Reds.
We could have further extended the lead, when Tedic was found over the top by a searching ball, racing through on goal. Tom Anderson was the recovering defender, and in an attempt to prevent the Serbian having a clear sight of goal clipped his heels and forced referee Marc Edwards to point to the spot.
Tedic stepped up to take the penalty, sidefooting with power, but Jones did well to get down and palm the ball to safety just before the break.
HALF-TIME: Doncaster Rovers 0-4 Barnsley
The second half began with more normality, with neither side threatening to add to the scoring tally in the opening stages.
Both sides made a plethora of substitutions around the hour mark to freshen up the personnel out on the pitch. The Reds brought off the experienced Tom Edwards and Adam Phillips who gained valuable minutes.
Rovers then grew into the affair and got a goal for their troubles. A cross in from the left found ex-Red Miller inside the area who deftly guided it into the net.
Miller then doubled his tally for the evening, curling a fantastic effort into the right corner of Jack Walton’s goal from 20 yards on 81 minutes.
Barnsley still had opportunities themselves, but substitute Josiah Dyer, son of legendary Reds striker Bruce was twice denied late on.
Progress and a good work-out for Michael Duff's men.
FULL-TIME: Doncaster Rovers 2-4 Barnsley
Walton, D.Benson, Lancaster, Edwards (Pickard), Moon, Larkeche (Hartley), Phillips (Nejman), Connell, Martin, Tedic (Dyer), Jalo (Butterfill).
Unused: Searle,
