The men in Amber took on the high fliers of Barnsley on a typical chilly November day. My report is 24 hours later than usual as I was lucky enough to be at Wembley stadium for the England game. A crowd of 6897 including around 900 from Yorkshire prepared for the game at the Abbey Stadium. For the U’s there were two changes Jack Stevens replaced Vincent Reyes in goal with Danny Andrews replacing the injured James Gibbons. Sulla Kaikai like Reyes were both on international duty. Today would be a good chance to see how the team reacted following last weeks heavy defeat at not so posh.
United lined up in their normal Amber but Barnsley ditched their normal red and white and treated us to a pink number. It looked effective and of course on such a murky day (just like the Amber shirts) they stood out well. United kicked off towards the south stand and made plenty of the early running. We were rewarded within 4 minutes when Dan Nlundulu robbed a defender in the box, beat another two, then rifled in a shot from around 8 yards which was deflected into the net past keeper Killip for 1-0, it was a great start. Moments later following a cross from Danny Andrew, Nlundulu headed just wide. Barnsley then had to substitute the injured Max Watters for Kelechi Nwakali on 8. Phillips then fired in an effort tipped wide by Stevens. Robert’s shot wide from the resulting corner. Humphrys of Barnsley was then booked for a foul on Kachunga. Liam Bennett crossed the ball for the impressive Nlundulu to head at goal but the ball was booted clear.
United won a corner on 17 but before the corner was taken, Barnsley had a second man booked when Gent was booked for fouling Bennett. Moments later and following United’s corner, the scores were level. The ball was cleared to the halfway line where powerfully built striker Humphrys collected the ball and ran at speed toward the United goal. He left Bennett, Kachunga and Okedina in his wake, one of them should really have put a tackle in before Humphrys belted the ball into the roof of the net from about 12 yards. It made it 1-1, a good goal but it was preventable. The visitors were knocking the ball around with increased confidence now and Earl then shot wide after good work from O’Keeffe. Korey Smith for the U’s fired over from outside the box. Brandon Njoku then had another effort for the home team blocked. Moments later the U’s went very close as Liam Bennett crossed for skipper Morrison’s powerful header to hit the post. Nlundulu then set up Kachunga who forced Killipp into a low save. Half time came with a score of 1-1 which was just about right.
The U’s kicked toward the NRE as the second half got underway. Korey Smith fired in a decent effort which had Killipp forced into an outstretched save. Njoku was then booked a foul on Russell. Russell then returned the favour when yellow carded when fouling Njoku. Nwakali then fired narrowly wide for the visitors. Following corners for either side Nwakali shot just over as the visitors gained control of the game. Phillips for Barnsley fired low and wide as the visitors upped their game. Humphrys then fired in for Stevens to save well low down. United then replaced Njoku with Ryan Loft. Just after, there was a let off for the home team as Phillips again shot wide. The U’s were digging deep to hang on. Liam Bennett was then booked for pulling back Keillor-Dunn. Referee Stockbridge was upsetting home supporters by seemingly awarding several free kicks for the visitors but the home side did not appear to be enjoying the same privilege.
Barnsley players were going down too easily and the referee did not help when he penalised Ryan Loft when he won the ball cleanly. We were certainly not impressed when he yellow carded Loft who had won the ball fairly. This broke down a United attack and gave our visitors an unfair advantage. Stevens did well to hold on to a shot from Keillor-Dunn which was arrowing towards the corner. Phillips headed wide as the U’s were being put under pressure from our impressive visitors. A rare cheer for the home side saw Shayne Lavery returning after several weeks of injury to replace Nlundulu. Keillor-Dunn had another effort well saved by the impressive Stevens, who moments later tipped over the bar, a header from Russell. Loft had a header narrowly wide for the home team before Watts replaced Brophy. United had just had a shout for a penalty as Lavery went down following a tackle. I’ll put this the category of seen them given. Earl shot wide for the visitors before 2 minutes of stoppage time brought the game to an end.
It was a fine point to win against a very confident side. It was good to see Lavery, Loft and Watts back today but the U’s still had 10 players missing. Star man today was an impressive confident performance by keeper Jack Stevens, with a welcome return to form. The whole side battled hard but special mentions go to Michael Morrison and Dan Nlundulu for their tireless efforts. It’s the cobblers next week and who knows we could have more players back from injury. Those returning today made a notable difference.