Barnsley vs Blackburn Rovers. Sky Bet Championship.
Oakwell Stadium.
Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash at Oakwell
Tuesday 30 June 2020 23:08, UK
Conor Chaplin answered Barnsley's prayers as he came off the bench to score in a 2-0 win over Blackburn that does wonders for his side's Sky Bet Championship survival hopes.
Chaplin needed less than three minutes to make an impact as he opened the scoring in the 58th minute, with Jacob Brown sealing the three points for the Reds in the final 15 minutes.
It is their second win in three games of the restart, all without conceding a goal, and puts them a point from safety, though the teams immediately above them - Hull and Huddersfield - have yet to play in this round of matches.
Still, their prospects are looking much better than before the action restarted when they were seven points adrift and they will now fancy their chances of avoiding the drop into League One.
Blackburn, who had Ben Brereton sent off in the second half, will rue some missed first-half chances and the defeat does nothing for their shrinking play-off hopes.
Gerhard Struber's men were fresh off a dull 0-0 draw with Millwall on Saturday, but things from an attacking prospect immediately looked better here.
Cauley Woodrow twice had stinging efforts in the first five minutes, but Rovers goalkeeper Christian Walton was equal to them on both occasions, the second a smart parried stop.
The Reds looked like they were going to go ahead in the 17th minute as Elliot Simoes played in Alex Mowatt, with the former Leeds man primed to score until Tosin Adarabioyo produced a brilliant block.
That was perhaps the wake-up call Blackburn needed as from that point they came to life.
Adam Armstrong, who spent time on loan at Oakwell four years ago, twice tested Jack Walton in the Barnsley goal with low shots.
It was from the second effort, which forced a corner, where Blackburn were left scratching their heads how they did not go in front.
Bradley Johnson got to the set-piece delivery first and stabbed an effort which Jack Walton could only parry and Armstrong seemed destined to prod home from yards out, but somehow he could not convert and blazed over.
The chances continued to rack up for Rovers after the break as Dominic Samuel found space at the far post from a set-piece but he fired over with no one around him.
The introduction of Chaplin just before the hour resulted in being the divine intervention for the Reds.
The forward had been on for just two minutes and 18 seconds when he opened the scoring, arriving in the box late to head Kilian Ludewig's brilliant cross in off the post.
He almost turned provider moments later as he foraged down the left and teed up Woodrow, who skewed his first-time shot wide.
While Chaplin made a positive impact from the bench, the same cannot be side for Brereton, who was sent off seven minutes after his introduction for wildly kicking out at Ludewig.
And in an empty stadium, he will have heard the Barnsley cheers just two minutes later as they made the game safe in the 76th minute.
Mowatt's long ball down the middle was latched on to by Brown, who closed in on goal and coolly tucked home his fourth goal of the season.
Barnsley's Gerhard Struber: "It gives my boys a good feeling. But we have the same situation like before, we stay in the relegation zone. The only change is a very good mindset, now is the right time to climb out of the relegation zone. It is a very good situation, three games, three clean sheets and also points. It is a massive impact for my boys in our belief. We don't always talk about our belief, in the end we can still stay in the league.
"We have a chance to stay in the league. It is what we need, today is the next step. I am happy at the moment. We stay in the relegation zone at the moment, we have to bring these performances in the next games and teams will find it difficult against us."
Blackburn's Tony Mowbray: "We were one point off the play-offs, we have lost two games against teams we should be beating in my opinion, life looks pretty difficult and tough going forward as we play a team at the top of the division (Leeds). Let's wait and see, you never know. We had a genuine chance of believing we could put ourselves in our frame, so these two results have been desperately disappointing.
"We lost the game because we didn't take our chances in the first half, you have to score goals to win football matches. We dominate the game, should have scored goals, didn't take the chances and came in at 0-0, which was not a true reflection. We should have been in front. We have to be ruthless we have to take chances. that's how it was, ultimately we are very disappointed."
