On The Ponty End

Capital Gains in Season Opener

There’s nothing like a good old-fashioned cup tie to get the new season underway, and Tykes fans travelling to Rochdale were in for a treat last weekend, with a 4-3 League Cup victory after extra time.

With no football since April, the Barnsley faithful have been forced to either watch England fail in Ukraine or an utterly dull Team GB crash out of the Olympics.

Our pre-season may have buffered the monotony of long summer evenings without a match to attend, but it is nothing compared to the return of competitive action.

And wasn’t the return competitive? Craig Davies’ shrugged off a defender before slotting home a low effort, handing the Tykes the lead after John Stones’ downward header levelled the scores.

Rochdale Vs Barnsley FC: In Pictures

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Barnsley defence (Sir Bobby between the sticks): Image © Rob Nunns 2012 / @PitchsidePro

Matt Done beats Rochdale keeper Josh Lillis: Image © Rob Nunns 2012 / @PitchsidePro

Kelvin Etuhu on the ball: Image © Rob Nunns 2012 / @PitchsidePro

Dagnall Double in Extra Time sees The Reds through in a thrilling cup encounter

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The league cup is traditionally nobody’s favourite competition by the furthest stretch of the imagination. The cup has usually come around only days after the beginning of league campaigns, often becoming a nuisance to sides wishing to find their feet in their respective leagues. This year, the tides have turned slightly, as the Olympic and European programmes have caused a change to the fixtures, this time bringing the cup around a week before ‘the big kick off’.

Whilst this alone made the potential for a more fiery affair, the prospect of Hillcroft and numerous players making their return to Spotland certainly brought around more interest among the Red’s travelling support, with bumper numbers making the trip to Lancashire.

Onto the game, where the Reds lined up as they have throughout the pre-season just gone, in a 4-2-3-1 formation, giving competitive debuts to Ben Alnwick and Kelvin Etuhu, with Jacob Mellis making his first start since his permanent capture, and John Stones making his first competitive start at right back, having previously come on as a substitute.

The Rochdale fans were delighted to welcome back Scott Wiseman, David Perkins, Kelvin Etuhu and Matt Done, as well as Chris Dagnall who was on the bench, with a special mention going to Keith Hill and David Flitcroft, the duo who were responsible for the club’s most successful ever period.

Fantasy Football League 2012/13

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OnThePontyEnd's Fantasy Football League is a Private League (open to new membership) and powered by Phones 4u Fantasy Football 2012/13.

The game is FREE to play, and there's some great prizes up for grabs throughout the season, including a massive £10,000 for the overall champion!

For full competition T&Cs, please see their Terms and Conditions page.

Enter Your Team in to OnThePontyEnd's Private League

First register at Phones 4u Fantasy Football 2012/13 and pick your squad.
Click "Private Leagues", scroll down to "Joining Private Leagues"
Enter Pin Number 6259 in to the box below and hit 'Find League'. If you are sure you have the right league, you must then click 'Join This League' to apply.
Once the League Chairman has accepted you in to the league, you will be able to view your table by clicking on the relevant Private League name on your team screen.
There are no formal prizes offered directly via OnThePontyEnd.com, this is operated just for fun.

Please note: There are no formal prizes offered directly via OnThePontyEnd.com, this is operated just for fun. Regular updates will appear on this site throughout the season.