<div class="byline" id="ds-byline">By Simon Meeks</div><div class="ds-bylinetext" id="ds-bylinetext">Barnsley</div><div class="ds-firstpara" id="ds-firstpara">PUG ugly, real dog rough it was. Only the table made it look good afterwards.</div><div class="va-bodytext" id="va-bodytext">Barnsley in fourth. Well, for one night at least. Manager Simon Davey didn't bother making his apologies. There's no point in dating Naomi Campbell if all you're going to get is dumped by text. Blackpool must have felt dumped on. Even down to 10 they were the better team. But they are a club now 10 without a win. Play well or poor, lose is what they do. They did it in style at Oakwell you have to say. Ref Paul Taylor gave them nothing but grief. A first half penalty, skipper sent off five minutes after the break, if it could go wrong it did. They ploughed on regardless. Further behind they went before the consolation of Keith Southern's goal and a grandstand finish which couldn't end soon enough for second best Barnsley. Davey knew he had been fortunate. He said: "I'd rather be coming in here after a game saying we've had a little bit of luck and we've got three points than we've passed Blackpool off the park, they've not touched the ball all night and we've lost the game. We're in a results business. If you get the results the rest doesn't matter." Blackpool hadn't been half bad until going a goal down. Keeper Paul Rabchubka hadn't had a save to make before he was beaten by Brian Howard's text-book low spot-kick which tore into the netting behind his left hand. Davey said: "I thought the penalty might have been outside the line but that decision has gone for us. I thought Jamal (Campbell-Ryce) had a shot which was handball. That could have gone for us. "There were a lot of incidents in the penalty area. They had a few, we had a few. It's gone for us tonight. It evens itself out over a season. There have been decisions this season that haven't gone for us but we've got the three points tonight and that's the main thing." Shaun Barker's daft shove on Sam Togwell handed the penalty to Barnsley and kickstarted them as an attacking force. Before then Blackpool had given better than they got.. A corner almost embarrassed the Reds. David Fox's delivery from the right was first class for Michael Jackson who lurked along inside the area. His free header went through the crowd before Heinz Muller patted it away. With 18 minutes gone at last Barnsley got into gear and Jamal Campbell-Ryce was appealing for a penalty when he crashed a shot at Danny Coid. Better players than Coid couldn't have avoided contact. After the break, Blackpool peppered Muller's goal with shots, like no-one had told them that he might just well be the best keeper in the league. He coped like he was. Another lifeline came Barnsley's way when Michael Jackson, who had been booked in the first half for a foul on Howard, lurched into Ferenczi under ref Taylor's nose. Out came a second yellow and the red. If anything, Blackpool came on even stronger. They claimed a penalty of their own when Muller went in on Wes Hoolahan and decked him. They got a corner and from it Lewin Nyatanga had to block a far post header on the line. Moments after that amazingly enough 2-0. A Howard freekick swung in from the left was aimed at the far post. Ferenczi got there first and headed in. Howard said: "I told him just get in there and I'd put it on his head. It's nice because I think I've been pretty quiet in the last few games. People haven't been shy in telling me but still out of the last three <div id="ds-mpu"></div>goals I've scored one and set up two." At last Blackpool got something. With 19 minutes left a Hoolahan corner from the right was fisted out by Muller. Southern returned it from around 18 yards out first time and with interest to make it 2-1. Rohan Ricketts perked Barnsley up when he came on. He beat two players before crossing deep into the box where Coid's header was close to an own goal. Blackpool pushed on more and more and with 90 minutes gone Scott Vernon's header on Kaspar Gorkss's cross was well saved by Muller. In the end kind words only for Blackpool. "Credit to them, they're a good side," Davey said. Howard said: "It was very hard work. Playing two games in two days really does take it out of you. Especially when they hadn't played at the weekend. They were always going to be sharper, you could see that they were first to the ball. But in football it's all about the results."</div>
Fair report but.. ... as Simon says, it's all about results. It's true - the Reds did have to play 180 minutes over52 hours, (not 3 days, which is 72 hours) whereas Blackpool didn't. You would expect them to be first to the ball and us probably have difficulty containing them, but for the most part we did.</p> I can't remember how many times I got fed up of reading about plucky little Barnsley playing well in the Prem, being the more energetic side and coming out losing. Sometimes you have to play hard to earn hard and perhaps we have learned how to do that.I detect almost a feeling of guilt among some that we've had the gall to walk away with three points after a substandard performance. We're fighting for survival just like the next team. Get over it and move on.</p>
RE: Is Davey dating Naomi Campbell then? Indeed, whata strange writing technique this Simon Meeks has. Looks like he has ambitions beyond the Star but it doesn't quite work for me.
good old howard "I told him just get in there and I'd put it on his head. It's nice because I think I've been pretty quiet in the last few games. People haven't been shy in telling me but still out of the last three goals I've scored one and set up two" I do get the impression he thinks he is the dogs B*ll*cks!
