It seems that every time Paul Jewell pitches up to Oakwell, he does so fearing that he could be unemployed by the time he leaves. After a thrilling performance at Birmingham, the Reds were keen to ensure that it wasn’t a case of ‘after the Lord Mayor’s show’, and grab the points against an Ipswich side without a win in 5.

Keith Hill appeared to abide by the philosophy of never changing a winning side, with minor tweaks into the personnel filling the bench. Ipswich welcomed debutant Danny Higginbotham, who arrived on loan from Stoke earlier this week - filling the centre half berth.

The away side were keen to stop the Reds from playing their football, and looked to hit the long balls into Jason Scotland early. Despite keeping a clean sheet last week, the Reds found themselves behind within 5 minutes when a free kick was awarded for an alleged fowl from Stephen Dawson. 3 stood over the ball, with some clever working on the free kick; though in reality Ben Alnwick would have been disappointed to see the ball slip through his fingers in the manner that it did.

From then onwards it was always going to be difficult for Keith Hill’s men, with Ipswich playing conservatively and keeping many men behind the ball. Scott Golbourne was afforded much possession on the left hand side, but a lack of movement and Ipswich’s aim to stifle at every opportunity made it difficult for the left back, who often resorted reluctantly to playing back to Scott Wiseman and Stephen Foster at the heart of the defence.

The Reds continued to be stifled by an Ipswich side determined to stop them playing, but could have felt hard done by when Chris Dagnall’s shot was saved by Scott Loach. With 10 minutes to go until half time, Martin Cranie linked up with a well taken Tom Kennedy corner to put the ball in the net, though the referee called for a foul on Scott Loach - with Foster, said to have impeded him, having to leave the pitch due to blood on his head.

As the half time whistle went, continued baffling decisions from the referee appeared to boil over, with Craig Davies appearing to be having words with repeat offender Guirane N’Daw - who was attempting to wind up the Reds’ marksman. As the second half got underway, it took the Senegal national only 1 minute to earn himself a yellow card - which had been a long time coming, forcing Paul Jewell into substituting him within 5 minutes of his booking.

The Reds looked to liven things up by introducing John Stones 10 minutes into the second half, with the 18 year old providing more attacking threat down the right wing than the rarely-utilised Tom Kennedy, who might have felt slightly aggrieved for being brought off with little opportunity to get on the ball. Stonesy had his usual impact, and caused numerous problems on the right hand side. One cross found Chris Dagnall, who again will have been devastated not to have scored, his shot being tipped onto the far post by the perennial time-waster Scott Loach.

Barnsley were determined not to peter out. The Reds didn’t win a single point from behind last year - which might have discouraged the players as the game wore on, though they remained resilient throughout. However, just after the hour Keith Hill made what could have been described as a bizarre change when he brought Danny Rose into the fray for the once again impressive Chris Dagnall - with Rose having neither the strength nor the work-rate to match the quality of performance of Dagnall come the end of the game.

Ipswich continued to rack up the yellow cards, and numerous shouts of handball in the Blues’ box were being ignored by referee Trevor Kettle - but the Reds continued to have the vast majority of possession, but struggled to find any potency with nearly an entire team behind the ball. On 72 minutes, the breakthrough finally game when Stephen Dawson marauded into the box from the right and fired a cracking shot into the top left.

The Reds saw out the game in dominant fashion, with Ipswich’s confidence taking a nosedive. Stones continued to push forward- but Ipswich were now with 10, and at times 11 behind the ball and were continuing to stop the Reds in any manner possible. The game ended 1-1, but the Reds will feel aggrieved at the numerous refereeing decisions that went against them, and perhaps a little disappointed by the performance, and even selection of Danny Rose - who needs to bulk up or gain experience before he can impact the Championship properly. On another day, and with one of Dagnall’s shots going in, and Alnwick saving what should have been routine, the Reds could have perhaps won in relative comfort - barring any physical impact a desperate and reckless Ipswich side could have made on the day.

Man of the Match: Stephen Dawson - as always ran from box to box, gave everything for the shirt and got a well deserved goal. His endeavour was appreciated today more-so because of his scoring - an endeavour that can often go overlooked

Barnsley (4-1-3-2)

Alnwick - 6 - should have done better for the goal, but had little else to do

Kennedy - 6 - wasn’t utilised enough but was subbed early in the second half due to not having enough impact on the pitch

Foster - 7 - getting more and more solid this season, and has adapted to Keith’s style well, he knows when and when not to play the ball short

Wiseman (C) - 7 - had a couple more runs forward than usual and wanted to carry his side over the line when it mattered, a captain’s performance

Golbourne - 7 - held the ball well when he was without options and did manage to deliver some decent balls into the area

Cranie - 7 - solid as always, has the passing quality of a midfielder but tackles like a true centre back

Dawson - 9 - runs box to box and gives his all for the time, took his goal well when the finishing of Mellis and Cywka let them down

Cywka - 8 - had the majority of the quality play and was a constant thorn in Ipswich’s side. Can be a real match winner on his day

Mellis - 6- a little off the boil and didn’t create his traditional threatening runs, but had some good play in spells

Dagnall - 7 - gives his all, tries to create chances and was thwarted by an excellent goalkeeping display twice today - chances and goals will happen if his endeavour continues

Davies - 6 - struggled to have an impact on the game after being kept in close watch by Ipswich’s centre backs, and was often drawn out wide. Needed to be more patient in his play today after last week’s 4 goal haul - which would have proved difficult to replicate despite the Reds having all the play

Subs - Stones for Kennedy - 8 - quality as always from the young right back, who made the difference after being brought on in the second half. Brilliant going forward and solid at the back

Rose for Dagnall - 5 - too weak to have an impact, spent most of his time on the floor and didn’t even nearly match the work rate of Dagnall - desperately needs a loan spell away
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