A bad day at the office – but worrying issues at both ends of the pitch with final words on Barnsley FC’s big loss to Lincoln City
The handicap is staged, of course, at Doncaster’s famous Town Moor track.
For those footballers not too far away at Barnsley, there’s no talk of running on the flat just yet and flying past the winning post. Perish the thought.
There are plenty of hurdles to clear before thinking about sprinting for home in the promotion stakes. There’s also Cheltenham coming up.
On a Saturday afternoon when the going was far from good, Barnsley did not just stumble at a fence or two. They cracked into the equivalent of Becher’s Brook and then The Chair, instead.
Lincoln had also given Barnsley some trouble in the past and they certainly gave them a whole load more in the present.
The songs about promotion, allied to a few oles, came from those from down the A1. Lincoln have not seen their colours lowered since New Year’s Day in an 11-match sequence and one thing is for sure, Barnsley won’t particularly be wanting to bump into them should they finish in the play-offs.
Neill Collins passed it off as a collective off-day and he might have a point. Unfortunately, closer inspection suggests there appears to be growing issues at both ends of the pitch, more worryingly.
Barnsley have kept one clean sheet in 18 games and their concession of 28 goals on home soil is the third worst record in the division.
It is not the number you associate with automatic promotion candidates, nor is the loss of six matches in front of your own supporters.
Up top, their leader of the pack in Devante Cole has not scored in seven matches. Form is temporary, class is permanent, but that sort of statistic is not what you want in March.
That said, Barnsley have been here before in a season where their capacity to react well to adversity has been a stand-out feature.
There were grumbles after being pegged back late on in a draw in the reverse fixture for instance in November, as there were after a loss at Derby County earlier that month. They have not lost on their travels since and they will perhaps be glad to be hitting the road to Cumbria on Tuesday.
More especially after a painful Oakwell episode four days before Saturday’s events.
As bad as Barnsley were across the pitch, it is doing a disservice to suggest that Lincoln were anything but excellent.
