Colchester boss Phil Parkinson could not believe his side failed to score after a late siege on the Barnsley goal. But the main reason for Colchester's Failure to find the net was a brilliant performance from keeper Nick Colgan. The goalie was recently omitted from the Republic of Ireland's squad but he inspired Barnsley to a win which lifted them in fifth spot ahead of Brentford. Colgan made a string of super saves, with the highlight being a magnificent point-blank stop in stoppage time to deny Colchester sub Gareth Williams. Parkinson said "I felt the game deserved to finish in a draw. We had enough chances to have got something and i simply could not believe that the ball stayed out of the Barnsley goal in the last few minutes." "Once Barnsley had taken the lead, we came storming back and we deserved an equaliser." Barnsleys match-winning midfielder Brian Howard was only playing because Jacob Burns had spent most of the week leading up to the game doing his best to earn a move to Polish champions Wisla Krakow. Howard gave a non-stop Show alongside cultured midfielder Stephen Mcphail. Colchester had the edge in the early stages of this terrific contest and Colgan pulled off brave stops to deny Richard Garcie and Chris Iwelumo. Barnsley also had their chances, with Mcphail dragging a left-foot shot just wide and Howard seeing a sidefooted effort well saved by Aidan Davison. Barnsley raised the tempo in the second half and Martin Devaney should have done better with a free header on the hour mark. But the Barnsley winger made amends in the 73rd minute when he delivered a great left-wing cross that was met by Howard. Although Davison pulled off a superb parry to keep out Howards initial header, the midfield man made no mistake with the rebound. Barnsley boss Andy Ritchie had been sent to the stands by his own players because he was struggling with a bug. His deputy Rick Holden said "He will feel a lot better after that performance. It was a great game and we played very well. The three points were fully deserved." Team Of The Week: Colgan (Barnsley) Hinds (Scnuthorpe) Barret (Southend) Morgan (Notts Forest) Blathewick (Chesterfield) Wellens (Oldham) Southall (Notts Forest) Howard (Barnsley) Keogh (Scnuthorpe) Brooker (Bristol City) Boyd (Hartlepool)
A well observed report And so very true.</p> I see the Reds game took top billing in the league 1 reports this week. How often does that happen?</p>
