Barnsley's WorldNet adventure - Part Two
Written by Allen Cooper on Wednesday 29th July 2009

Barnsley knew that whoever they drew in the WorldNet Cup would be tough. After making it through to the main event three times previously, they had fallen at the first hurdle each time. Last year they had been well beaten 3-0 by eventual winners Preston North End.

As the team enjoyed a meal in Zizzi's restaurant on Saturday evening, it was widely predicted and expected that the Reds would be drawn against one of their three main rivals in Preston, Hull or Rotherham. And hey presto, the news filtered through that it was the Tigers, who finished 4th in the IFA League, that Barnsley would have to tame at 11am on Sunday morning.

The two sides had fought out a thrilling 2-2 draw in the Yorkshire Cup Semi Final in April, with Barnsley triumphing that day after Danny Haig's save and five successful kicks lead to a 5-3 win on penalties.

It was to be a case of deja vu as we begin the second and concluding part of Barnsley's 2009 WorldNet adventure.

Sunday

Cup 1st Round: Barnsley 1-1 Hull (AET, Barnsley win 12-11 on penalties)

There seemed to be something in the air when Barnsley and Hull ran out onto the hallowed Bodington turf on Sunday morning, as if something special was about to happen.

The determination to win the battle was evident on both sides' faces, and barely a glance was taken by one side at the other before the game got under way.

After discussions between manager Allen Cooper, captain Jon Harper and Phil McNulty, Barnsley made a shock tactical switch from Saturday's successful 4-4-2 by employing a Jose Mourinho style 4-3-3/4-5-1 formation. The intention was to dominate Hull's strong four man midfield and circumnavigate their two towering centre backs with pacey wingmen.

The match began cagily, with the mutual respect of each other's ability clearly being displayed. Barnsley's midfield trio of Harper, McNulty and Rich Brown began to dictate the game and Simon Newey's pace was close to getting in behind the City defence on more than one occasion.

However, after Newey's early effort on goal Hull made a rare foray forward and won a somewhat dubious free kick for a foul by left back Jonno Smales, though any contact appeared to be minimal at best.

The result was a fantastic arrow of a left footed shot which went over Barnsley's four man wall and into the top corner of the net with keeper Danny Haig rooted to the spot.

The Reds almost equalised straight from the kick off when Matt Goodwin's superb through ball found McNulty, who showed good pace to get to the ball first and whip in a deep cross for Newey. It seemed for all the world as though the striker would level things up, but the ball zipped off the wet surface and subsequently the toe he got on the ball was not enough to prevent the Hull defender from clearing off the line.

Chris Lee's header from a deep free kick was close to levelling things up but the Tigers keeper was equal to it on this occasion. Newey was then twice left frustrated by the assistant referee's flag, despite the second time looking at least two yards onside.

Half time came, and despite being a goal behind Barnsley were confident that the dream could be kept alive. Sure enough the drama was not over. The impressive Goodwin once again played the perfect ball over the Hull defence, and this time NEWEY was onside and finished superbly with his left foot with the keeper advancing.

Just moments later Newey was in again but this time dragged his shot wide when you'd have put money on him to put his side ahead.

The game went into a ten minute Golden Goal period of extra time, but there were only a couple of small scares at both ends before the excitement and tension increased in the form of a penalty shootout.

History was on Barnsley's side, having previously beaten Preston 12-11, missing only one kick, Hull as was mentioned earlier without missing one, and just three weeks ago Manchester United were also beaten on penalties in by the Reds in Preston. What ensued was quite remarkable.

Hull won the toss and asked Barnsley to go first. The outstanding Chris Lee smashed home the first penalty, before McNulty, Newey, Rob Pick and Ian Sowden followed suit. However, the Tigers' kicks were arguably even better and comfortable than Barnsley's and it went into a sudden death situation. Surely someone had to miss soon...

Five more successful penalties followed for both sides, with Josh Mills, Lee Beard, Ben Wanless, Jon Harper and Goodwin all converting, which left keeper Haig in the limelight. Sure enough, the youngster coolly slotted his kick home as well. Lee then took another impeccable penalty before finally, finally of all people, the Tigers' star striker and first taker smashed his kick off the crossbar to spark wild jubilations amongst the Barnsley squad - they were through to the Second Round for the first time. A staggering 23 consecutive penalties had been scored before the crucial deciding miss - surely some sort of record.

A special mention goes to former Army man Alex Varley for a man of the match performance at right back, probably his best ever game for the team. His spirit and determination summed up the Barnsley performance.

Barnsley Squad:
Danny Haig, Jonno Smales, Alex Varley, Ben Wanless, Chris Lee, Jon Harper, Phil McNulty, Richard Brown, Simon Newey, Matt Goodwin, Ian Sowden.
Subs: Josh Mills, Gavin Saville, Lee Beard, Allen Cooper, Kieron Brown, Rob Pick

Hull finally miss the 24th penalty of an epic shoot out to send Barnsley through.

Barnsley's heroics earned them a second round tie with tournament favourites West Brom A. The Baggies probably take the IFA league more seriously than any other team, and have been known to recruit a number of semi-professional players and Academy dropouts as they seek silverware. They were unbeaten all through 2008/09 with a record of 17 wins and two draws from their 19 league games, and reached the IFA Cup Final where they lost to Preston only on penalties.

It was going to have to be Barnsley's best ever performance to make it through this one.

Cup 2nd Round: Barnsley 2-1 West Brom A

Barnsley had never before taken on West Bromwich Albion despite having entered the Baggies' own tournament back in May, but were fully aware of their favourites' tag and their superb record over the past year.

The Reds turned up on Pitch 13 hoping that it would be a case of unlucky 13 for Boing FC. As if the Baggies' record and reputation wasn't daunting enough, the team that turned up could have been mistaken for a basketball team given that their average height was about 6'2".

Allen Cooper stuck with the same formation and tactics that had got his side past Hull City an hour or so earlier, though he brought Josh Mills, Gavin Saville and Kieron Brown into the side to try and freshen things up.

It was West Brom who made the early running and after a wild shot over the crossbar they rattled the underside of the bar to give Barnsley an early scare. However the Reds, superbly driven forward by England captain Jon Harper and Phil McNulty in midfield, began to take control of the game. McNulty in particular was causing real problems with his superb range of passing which was constantly putting the Baggies on the back foot.

It was the third central midfielder though who set Barnsley on their way. After Boing had failed to clear their lines from another Reds attack, Richard BROWN hit a low left footed shot across the opposing goalkeeper and into the far corner of the net for his first goal of the tournament.

It was almost dreamland for Barnsley moments later when McNulty's delicious pass sent Kieron Brown away down the right hand side. Brown's excellent first time cross landed straight on the head of Simon Newey six yards out but Barnsley's leading scorer could only head inches wide.

West Brom were very quick and dangerous on the counter attack and keeper Danny Haig had to be swift off his line on a couple of occasions, and Barnsley's ever improving defence had to cope with a number of long balls over the top.

Half time arrived with Cooper's men one goal up, but with an awful lot of work still to do if they were to make the Quarter Finals.

The Reds almost had the perfect start after the break when Ian Sowden raced clear of the West Brom defence but could only lob into the hands of the advancing keeper as defenders chased him down.

Despite trailing, West Brom could only seem to launch direct balls over the top and their attempts to get back in the game became ever more desperate as a number of wild long range efforts flew harmlessly wide.

Barnsley then launched a counter of their own, and Newey produced a brilliant effort from the left corner of the penalty area which forced a full length diving save. However, like all good strikers, Kieron BROWN was alert to the chance and stole in to side foot the ball home via the post.

In fairness this really shook West Brom and they did throw the kitchen sink at the Reds late on, and finally breached the Barnsley rearguard with six minutes to go. The Reds could only half clear another corner and when the ball came back in it was scrambled in at the far post to once again raise tension levels.

The Reds had to deal with a number of high balls into the area but defended stoutly until virtually the last second of the game when, in true Barnsley style, it seemed they had conceded in the last seconds as West Brom again scrambled the ball over the line.

This time though, the young assistant's flag was up for an offside almost on the goalline. Baggies manager Richard Eades and his players were furious and surrounded the 16 year old official for several minutes until the admirably strong referee finally diffused the situation and confirmed that the goal did not stand.

It seemed justice had been done as there also appeared to be a handball by a West Brom player just as the ball was turned into the net.

The final whistle blew from the resulting free kick to the relief and joy of the Barnsley players and they were through to the last eight of the 'Fans' World Cup'.

Special mentions in this game for Phil McNulty who had his best game of the competition, and centre backs Gavin Saville and Ben Wanless who repelled a barrage of high balls into the Barnsley box to ensure a famous win.

Barnsley Squad:
Danny Haig, Alex Varley, Josh Mills, Gavin Saville, Ben Wanless, Richard Brown, Jon Harper, Phil McNulty, Kieron Brown, Simon Newey, Ian Sowden
Subs: Jonno Smales, Chris Lee, Allen Cooper, Lee Beard, Rob Pick, Matt Goodwin

Barnsley's reward for being the first team to defeat West Brom in normal time this season was a reunion with South Yorkshire rivals Rotherham. The Reds had beaten the Millers for the first time earlier in the season when they came from 2-0 down to win 4-2 in the Yorkshire Cup Quarter Final - Rotherham's only defeat in 15 games in 2008/09. Joe Roebuck's men had turned the tables in the return fixture though so it promised to be another classic encounter.

Cup Quarter Final: Barnsley 0-2 Rotherham

Barnsley had barely ten minutes to celebrate their superb win over West Brom before they were kicking off against the Millers for a place in the last four of the competition.

The weekend's sixth half hour contest proved a bridge too far for the Reds as they struggled to get going so soon after the euphoria of their second round win, and Rotherham took full advantage of their extra break before the game.

Striker Steve Burns, a semi professional player widely regarded as the IFA's top forward, proved too much for a tiring Reds side as firstly he won a penalty from Ben Wanless' challenge. Danny Haig got a hand to the resulting kick but the pace on the ball saw it squirm into the bottom corner of the net.

Chris Lee came close to heading Barnsley level, but in the second half Burns scored a sensational second as he turned and beat two Reds defenders in the box before firing past Haig.

Barnsley battled valiantly to the end but to no avail and it was England manager Roebuck's side that advanced to the last four.

Barnsley Squad:
Danny Haig, Jonno Smales, Gavin Saville, Chris Lee, Ben Wanless, Richard Brown, Lee Beard, Phil McNulty, Simon Newey, Matt Goodwin, Ian Sowden
Subs: Josh Mills, Alex Varley, Jon Harper, Allen Cooper, Kieron Brown, Rob Pick

Manager's view

I was absolutely delighted with reaching the last eight of this fantastic 64 team competition. We had never been past the last 32 before, and when you consider we faced three teams on Sunday who had between them lost just four of their 54 league games, it really was an excellent achievement to get past two of them.

Obviously we'd have loved to have beaten Rotherham and won the whole thing, but it's a learning curve and we aim to come back stronger in 2010. We have come a long since 2004 and this last 12 months or so has been our best by a long chalk.

I'm proud of every single one of the players that was involved, they all put in a fantastic shift and just about all of them were hobbling by the end of the weekend such was their determination and dedication for the Barnsley cause.

I cannot imagine a group of 18 men representing the great town of Barnsley in a better away than this squad of players. They are a credit to Barnsley Football Club, the town of Barnsley and most of all are a credit to themselves.

A number of players had brilliant tournaments and it's very hard to single someone out as the outstanding performer. However, it was our fantastic defending that was the highlight of the tournament for me, and I feel that Chris Lee just edges the Barnsley player of the tournament. Well done Chris and keep it up.

Roll on 2009/10.

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