Football League One
Pirelli Stadium, Burton-upon-Trent
Admission: £18.00
Programme: £3.00
Attendance: 4,310
Today would be the first of a few "champagne jobs" I have planned before the end of the season, this one completing League One for me, with just a visit to Forest Green Rovers left in order to complete the Football League 72.
The Pirelli Stadium is about a half hour walk from Burton on Trent train station, along a busy main road parallel to the railway line. Opened in 2005, it is pleasing on the eye outside as well as inside, with a smart colour scheme of black, grey and yellow, is compact in nature and sensibly sized - albeit it was probably inadequate to host Championship football as it did for the previous two seasons. There is car parking around the outside of the stadium, with a small club shop and ticket windows next to the stadium's main entrance. When purchasing my ticket, I opted to stand on the covered terrace stretching along one length, with covered terraces also available behind both goals, one end being allocated to away supporters. All of the terrace stands are similarly designed, sized and shaped, and the remaining length offers covered single tiered seating, below hospitality suites along the top. A small section of the seating is also allocated to away fans. Indoor bars are located within the home terrace stands, and the terraces are accessed by climbing a flight of stairs and along a balcony along the top of the terrace. Along the balcony in the stand I was in, there were a couple of nice, colourful murals prepared by schoolchildren. The 72 page programme was a decent read, well designed as well as covering all of the essential stats and facts.
This match would be between two clubs relegated from the Championship last season, although realistically only Barnsley are in the mix to make an immediate return. With six games to go, they require just one point to be assured of a play-off spot, and they went into this game in the second promotion spot, three points ahead of third placed Sunderland but have played two games more. They have been in outstanding form recently, unbeaten in the league since early December, a run of 20 games that had included 12 wins. They have won 22 and drawn 13 of their 40 league games. Burton would need something of a miracle to achieve a play-off spot now, as they are ten points adrift with seven games left to play, having won 14 and drawn 11 of their 39 league games. The reverse fixture took place in February, ending in a 0-0 draw.
On a warm and sunny afternoon, the hosts started on the front foot, and were rewarded with the opening goal in the fifth minute. Scott Fraser ran onto the ball and fired a low shot across the keeper, who parried the ball, only for Jamie Allen to shoot the rebound home. Burton kept pushing forward, and were denied a penalty for an apparent handball, and in the same move, Liam Boyce was booked for simulation. The game then settled down as Barnsley controlled possession, but rarely looked threatening, and overall Burton quite comfortably made it to half time a goal in front.
But within a couple of minutes of the restart, the hosts should have doubled their lead, Boyce running clear of the defence for a one-on-one with the keeper, but in trying to lob the keeper, Boyce dinked the ball quite comfortably into his hands. The game then followed a similar pattern to the first half, Barnsley looking good in possession, without delivering any end product, and it was Burton who had the clearer chances. And indeed, they doubled their lead on 81 minutes, when Boyce was again sent clear through on goal, but this time he struck the ball powerfully to the side of the keeper. That seemed to be game over, certainly for some of the Barnsley fans who headed for the exits. But Barnsley were handed a lifeline by the referee, who did seem to favour the away team with his decisions all afternoon, and awarded the visitors a penalty for some reason that evaded all those present. But Cayley Woodrow slammed the penalty into the bottom left corner, sending the keeper the wrong way. One wondered if Barnsley would go on to salvage a point they would not really have deserved, but justice did prevail when Burton restored their two goal lead on 89 minutes. Boyce took possession by the outer corner of the penalty area, and spotted Markus Harness in space in a central position, and he stroked the ball home. That really did seal the three points, their third win in succession, all at home, and brought Barnsley's long 20 match unbeaten run to an end. A bad afternoon became even worse for Barnsley as both Sunderland and Portsmouth won, both of whom can now overhaul Barnsley by winning their games in hand. Interestingly, Burton still have Sunderland (away, on Tuesday) and Portsmouth at home left to play.
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