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Saturday 28th February 1998 : Barnsley 2(1) Wimbledon 1(0)

Watson / Eaden, Moses, Markstedt (Tinkler 45), Morgan, Barnard / Bosancic (Sheridan 62), Redfearn, Marcelle / Fjortoft, Ward

A tough follow-up to the United win for the Reds. Wimbledon always are a tough side and after losing so poorly to them earlier in the season we really needed a win today.

For most of the first half the ball bounced between both penalty areas. Wimbledon had the best chance early when they hit the post from a header. Watson just about reached it.

Fjortoft gave us the lead after 25 minutes. The goal came from good approach play by Clint Marcelle. He passed the ball forward cutting through the Wimbledon defence. Fjortoft latched onto it and lifted the ball over the diving dons keeper. One nil and cue the aeroplane celebrations.

The conditions played havoc with the stadium. Redfearn lifted out the corner flag at one point. It then took a good ten minutes to get sorted. One of the youngsters came over and planted it back in place but before he returned to his seat the flag had fallen over again to the delight of the ORA Stand who quickly piped up with "Your not very good..." I lost count of the number of times it started to snow and then came sunny again. It gave us the bizarre situation where we had brilliant sunshine and the floodlights on full.

Our second goal in the 62nd minute was a bit on the fortunate side. A nothing ball was chased by Marcelle who jumped into the Wimbledon keeper. The keeper then spilled it and Fjortoft was on hand to nudge the ball over the line. Safe to say if the decision had been given at the other end we would be close to ripping the seats out.

As we never give the home fans an easy time of it the final minutes of a game Wimbledon had to score. The goal from them in the 71st minute came from a cross. The cross might never have made it though but for some pulling back of Barnard. He was held from making a challenge which gave the move time to develop. The ball was headed home by Euell when he rose above the crowd and bang. Goal. We survived a final twenty minutes of madness to take the points.

Very important win under very difficult circumstances. Just one more and were not going to be remembered as the team with the lowest points total ever. But that's not important really. We want survival and today's result certainly helps us on the way. We still need a good few more though.

Wednesday 25th February 1998 : Barnsley 3(2) Manchester United 2(0)

Watson / Appleby (Sheridan), Moses, Markstedt, Jones, Barnard / Bosancic, Redfearn, Bullock (Marcelle) / Hendrie (Liddell), Ward.

"Oh what a night, late February back in 98". A night to sing about for years to come.

Redfearn had a brilliant chance to open the scoring in the first couple of minutes. His free header had no power or pace and Schmeichel easily gathered. We didn't have long to wait for a goal and the first of a number of mad moments in the match.

John Hendrie latched onto a good through ball from Darren Barnard down the left channel. He seemed to be offside (later confirmed by T.V. evidence) but that doesn't matter, sometimes you get them other times you don't. John still had loads to do, he kept going and just before Schmeichel got there he lifted it with teh outside of his right boot and the ball curved in via the bar right at the top corner of the goal. Brilliant. Super John strikes again against United.

United came straight back at us and shortly afterward Beckham struck the post with a well placed shot. The first of many hairy moments. Balls seemed to whiz past the post or into Watson's arms.

Just before the break Scott Jones marked his first home game of the season in big style. John Hendrie was brought down by Gary Pallister five yards outside the left corner of the penalty area. Redfearn crossed the ball and just when you thought Schmeichel would clutch the ball out of the air. Jones stole in unmarked and lifted a foot to prod the ball over the line. Half time and two nil up against the champions of England. The only way this could get any better would be for it to be full time. It wasn't that far away.

Despite Sheringham starting on the bench he was brought on early doors before half time. He got a goal to get united back into the game. He struck the ball, Watson had his body well on the way to stopping it and then Moses (The most experienced Barnsley defender on the night) put his body in the way and the ball was cruelly deflected into the undefended part of the net.

Scott Jones, the man of the match despite what A1 taxis might think struck back in brilliant fashion. We got a corner when a cross flew across the front of goal. It was just stabbed behind for safety. For one of the few times this season we had a good cross put in from a corner and Jones one of the shortest men on the pitch ran in and leapt high to power the ball in under the bar. GOAL. 3-1.

After the goal we came under substantial pressure and Andy Cole scored against us again, sliding the ball between Watson's legs. The final minutes we were under bombardment, Ashley Ward stopped a goal bound shot and a United youngster had a chance to equalize with a minute left but the ball was skyed and we were safe.

Great night for Barnsley but definitely not as good as the Bradford game. But Bloody Brilliant.

Saturday 21st February 1998 : Coventry 1(0) Barnsley (0)

Watson / Eaden, Moses, Markstedt, Jones / Sheridan (Hristov), Bosancic, Redfearn, Bullock (Marcelle) / Fjortoft (Hendrie), Ward.

2 penalty decisions in 2 weeks deciding 2 games. Both go against us. Is that four for the season? We seemed to have em all last year but definitely not this.

I can't really remember much of anything that happened at all during the first half. A bit of the ball moving a bout mostly in our half. Markstedt making one decidedly dodgy backpass. That man is so relaxed about his play that I sometimes wonder if he's woken up. Good on some occasions others like today it wasn't. Scott Jones came in and did a good job in a largely rejigged back line. DeZeeuw(Injury), Barnard(Suspension) and Morgan(Suspension) out. Jones and Markstedt in with an extra man in midfield.

The second half wasn't really much better for us in terms of the number of on target shots that got passed a block two yards away. That rose from a total of none in the first half to none in the the second. The combination of Fjortoft and Ward yet to mature into anything really. Today though we looked like a side that through little fault of its own had come to battle and frustrate.

Most of the second half action happened in-front of our goal. Huckerby blasted wide when he should have done better and then a little later Watson half brought down a Coventry attacker outside the box, got away with it and then the striker could only place his shot against the post. When this sort of thing happens I was stretching my memory back to our last nil nil draw. Certainly not this season, but the penalty came to stop all that remenicing. A ball was floated into the box. It was sailing high and behind Deon Dublin and  Markstedt. Dublin did a sack of spuds impersonation. The ref Alan Wilkie pointed to the spot. Dublin dug himself up and then placed the ball in the bottom right corner of the bag.

Georgi got his usual five minute runout and the game was over. Once again were left minus a few more points.

Sunday 15th February 1998 : F.A. Cup 5th Round : Manchester United 1(1) Barnsley 1(1)

Watson / Eaden, Moses, DeZeeuw (Appleby), Morgan, Krizan / Bosancic, Redfearn, Bullock / Hendrie (Liddell), Ward

Was it a pre-season friendly? Or was it a prelude to Wembley? The sun was out so were short shirt sleeves and no match goin on at Oakwell it must have been one or the other. Even on the journey there it seemed a bit surreal, passing groups of people who were waving at all the coaches passing. Was the nation behind us?

We warmed up for the game with a few songs and the match couldn't come soon enough. It didn't take long for the game to have it's first incident. Ward was booked after making a sissor tackle with two feet from behind. A bit of meat in the tackle during the league game and we might not have lost by so many.

In a crazy couple of minutes while most of the crowd were shouting at the United fans DeZeeuw went off with what looked like a Strain for Appleby. Then shortly after Ward disappeared for five minutes for some running repairs on a head wound. That wound may have affected his play a bit because at one point during the first half Ward passed when most of the fans thought he should have shot, or at least taken the ball on a bit longer. So the chance was lost.

What can you say about Super Johnny Hendrie? He's spent most off the season on the bench for one reason or another. He just followed up a bouncing back-pass. Why thought I? Peter the keeper never misses em. You're wasting your energy. How wrong I was. Schmeichel sliced the clearance towards his own goal, at one stage it looked like looping in on its own. But it wasn't Hendrie raced onto it and before the keeper could get back he kicked it into goal. The crowd went bananas. "WE ARE PREMIER LEAGUE SAY WE ARE PREMIER LEAGUE". Shame it was the cup. A candidate for funniest moment of the season.

It didn't take long for United to reply. Throughout most of the first half they showed some good approach work but didn't have the final product. On this occasion a backheel found its way to Sheringham, goal. All very simple. Damn, would they score again?

We looked a little shaken for a while but we dug deep and came back at them. Ward who didn't have one of his best games (that doesn't mean he was rubbish just that he didn't live upto his own high standards) had a brilliant chance when he was one on one with the keeper. Unfortunately the keeper got down to it and beat it away.

At half time I couldn't really believe the situation we were in. Still in with a shout. In the second half it could have got better still, Bullock who seemed to improve the more the game went on had a mazey run which a cross bounced back to him inside the box. This time he layed it off to Hendrie who seemed to lose his footing and blasted the ball over the goal, high wide and handsome.

Penalty? Lets just say that within the first half hour we had two booked and United had none. The ref gave very little in our favour all day. He had set his ground rules. Barnsley get nowt. ManU get out of jail. Liddell who had been on the pitch for only a few minutes latched onto a prodded ball forward from Redfearn. He turned well and got himself into a shooting position. Before he could pull the trigger he was chopped in the nads by a United leg.The challenge nowhere near the ball didn't even warrant a second thought from the ref.

Perhaps man of the match has to go to Watson who made a number of crucial saves and kept us in the game more than once. The rest of the defensive unit played well  and coped with the loss of Arry admirably. Morgan once again took no prisoners all day. A bit make shift, but well done.

On a personal note a big disappointment came when I missed out on a 225-1 shot. As Damien will testify I had Hendrie for the first goal and a 2-1 result for Barnsley on my betting coupon. Bloody Leeds refs. Should know that we get nowt from em.

What a bloody good day out. Lets go one better a week on Wednesday. RED ARMY!

Saturday 7th February : Barnsley 2(1) Everton 2(1)

Watson / Eaden, De Zeeuw, Moses, Morgan(Hristov), Barnard / Redfearn, Bosancic, Bullock / Fjortoft(Hendrie), Ward.

In the end a disappointing finish to what might have been another terrific win. Early missed chances stopped the Barnsley Bandwagon.

A bright start to the game gave hope of a repeat of Wednesday and a three goal haul. Bosancic had by far and away the best chance of the game when he was involved in some neat approach play which gave him an opportunity from 16 yards with only the keeper to beat. Sadly he lost his nerve and placed it where the keeper could stop it, just to his right and the keepers left. Redfearn had a brilliant opportunity shortly after but instead of the net bulging he  trudged back towards the centre circle red faced as the ball just passed him by without making any real contact.

In between the above chances though Fjortoft scored his first goal for the club. Ashley Ward crossed a deep ball from the right and Jan was unmarked on the edge of the six yard box powered a header home. Then after 3 games we got what we all wanted to see the famous aeroplane celebration. Lets hope we have a lot more before the end of the season.

We couldn't build on the one goal lead, and as the half time whistle came ever closer Everton came more and more into the match. Ferguson started a move which went out to the Barnsley right, Madar crossed it in and with four Everton players in the box the one to get on the end of it was big Duncan, as he is known in the pool. It beat Watson to his left with great placement.

The half time whistle gave us a chance to regroup and perhaps produce a better strategy for dealing with the big scot. Right at the start of the second half the travesty of a second goal for Everton sent the crowd into shock. Tony Grant lifted a cross cum shot over Watson's head and into the right hand corner. 2-1 down and we had had most of the play.

John Hendrie came on as a substitute at around sixty minutes for Fjortoft. His contribution was quickly useful a header on from him found its way via an Everton defender to the feet of Ashley Ward. His quick shot hit the crossbar. A well forward Darren Barnard struck the rebound but it didn't go in and stopped at the left hand post. He quickly chased it up and prodded it over the line for his second goal in two games.

Everton brought on Cademateri for Madar and immediately he caused problems with his pace. Still we pressed forward and could easily gone in-front again. Redfearn hit a smashing free kick over a wall and the Everton keeper dived and just prodded the ball wide right. It was a more impressive save than we first thought as he seemed to have something in his eye or lost a contact lense immediately afterward. This required treatment on the touchline for about 5 minutes as whatever was going wrong just couldn't be sorted out. From the resulting corner from the save DeZeeuw rose head and shoulders above the defence and headed the ball for the bottom left hand corner. Once again the keeper was upto the task and just couldn't be beaten. Five minutes of time but just 5 seconds of play and he had saved the toffemen twice.

The desperate need to get a win from the game was bourne out by the Barnsley bench who brought off Chris Morgan who had another good game for Georgi Hristov. This proved little use in the final outcome of things and we went home disappointed with a draw in a game that we might easily have lost. With only a few minutes left on the clock Everton had a good low cross which evaded Ferguson and passed just six yards in-front of an empty net. Sighs of relief could be heard all around the ground.

Wednesday 4th February : F.A. Cup 4th Round Replay : Barnsley 3(0) Tottenham Hotspur 1(0)

Watson / Eaden, De Zeeuw, Moses, Morgan, Barnard / Redfearn, Bosancic, Bullock / Hendrie, Ward.

What a game, absolutely terrific. End to end stuff and for once we mixed it with one of the so called big boys and came out on top. Three goals against a top flight team, I don't believe it! Hey but it's true.

The first half was a tussle this way and that. Watson made a few good saves, most notably double save to stop Spurs taking the lead. We came close on a load of occasions one when Redfearn hit a free kick across goal, it evaded everyone and was beaten wide, another chance flashed past the same post and the keeper saved on occasions from Ward and others.

Could the second half live up-to the entertainment of the first. Two separate two minute bursts set up the victory. Clemence was sent off by Gerald Ashby. Within a minute Redfearn burst down the left and crossed first time from the byline. Ashley  Ward rose unchallenged and powered the header into the top corner of the net.

The second spell found an impressive Morgan clearing off his line. That last ditch boot landed at the feet of Bullock who took the ball half the length of the pitch and into the Tottenham penalty area. He hit the shot but it was saved. He rushed wide to pickup the rebound and tried to blast the ball into the roof of the net. Rather embarrassingly he completely missed the ball, but he had the presence of mind to tap the bouncing ball back to Redfearn who powered the ball into goal.

Ginola who once again provided the main impetus for Tottenham. On this occasion he couldn't break the Barnsley. Infact he almost broke something of his own by falling over a blade of grass and going down like a tun of bricks. Hilarious. Not as funny as him shouting at his own players for being rubbish, and definitely not as funny as seeing the lightning quick John Hendrie catch him from behind, take the ball off him and then slightly catch him on the follow through in the first 10 minutes The only thing that he didn't do which wasn't funny was a terrific free kick curled into the top left corner. The other famous foreign forward also had a bit of a mare on this occasion spurning a number of chances. It got much worse for him when he took a leg in the face and fractured his jaw. Needless to say he took no further part in the game.

Barnard spent most of the second half doing an aerobic workout all on his own on the left hand side of the midfield and up-front. Hewaved his arms up into the air down by his side, in a flapping motion. He even asked some of his colleagues to join him by shouting really loudly at them. Eventually with two minutes left on the clock the ball found it's way over to his side of the pitch. Darren seemed a little upset at this because he hit the ball as hard as he possibly could to get the ball away from him. Fortunately the net got in the way otherwise those behind the goal would have need plastic surgery. Terrific goal. Terrific game.

I could mention other chances that wen't begging, and that Barnard hit the post. That wouldn't do the game justice. We had a good day. Lets have some more of them please.

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