A Brad Ihionvien penalty was enough to salvage the U’s a point in an incredibly tight game here at the JobServe Community Stadium against Barnsley.
The U’s started the game well with Ryan Lowe playing an early ball into Kaan Bennett, who connected well but his shot was blocked well. The ball went out for a U’s corner, but nothing came from it. The U’s kept the early pressure alive when they won a free kick in a dangerous area on the left flank, Ryan Lowe but in a teasing ball but it was cleared well by the Barnsley defenders.
In the tenth minute the U’s got themselves another chance. Matt Yates found Bennett with a wonderful through ball, Bennett beat his man and powered towards goal. Bradley Ihionvien was free in the middle and screaming for a pass. Bennett obliged and tried to thread the needle but his pass was intercepted and the ball went for another U’s corner.
Twenty-nine minutes into the match Donell Thomas did brilliantly to beat two opposing players, he found a ball to Bennett who then shipped the ball off to the overlapping Trialist, although once again his cross was cleared away by the well drilled Barnsley defenders.
The visitors also had their chances in the first half. In the thirty-eighth minute the U’s got too comfortable playing in a dangerous area, a loose pass was made and Barnsley pounced, it was picked up and they had a two on one in a good area, however the Barnsley attacker opted to shoot rather than play the ball across goal and in that he shot off target.
Barnsley came closest to making the breakthrough in stoppage time of the first half, they played some brilliant football to breakdown the U’s strong defence. The chance came from the left side and the shot was hit with immense power but once again the shot was off target.
Early on in the second half the U’s gave away a free kick right on the edge of the box, a good chance for the visitors however it proved to be a little too close for the Barnsley man to get it up and over the wall and back down again as the free kick flew over the crossbar.
The U’s started the second half slowly as Barnsley came again, this time playing nice football as they found a way to break the lines, after a bit of a scramble the ball fell for an attacker and he put the ball in the net, however it was pulled back for offside.
In the fifty-fourth minute the visitors made it 1-0 through Dyer. It was good play from Barnsley as an early ball was put towards an intelligent run made by the striker, he managed to get there in front of The Trialist and play a glancing header past the Trialist in goal.
In the seventy-fourth minute the U’s go agonisingly close. After winning a free kick in a dangerous area, Ryan Lowe steps up and strikes a sweet free kick, it looks certain to go in but a slight deflection took it just higher than intended and the shot hit the bar and came back into play, eventually after a scramble the visitors managed to get it clear.
Six minutes later however, the U’s are in again, and this time Oscar Thorn plays Kaan Bennett through with a beautiful first time pass, the forward breaks clear but is hacked down as he goes to shoot. The referee awards a penalty to the U’s and Ihionvien makes no mistakes from the spot.
Both sides will see this as two points dropped rather than a point gained in this incredibly tight match up. However, it’s a positive result for Liam Bailey’s side and the young U’s can definitely build on a good performance and push on to end the season positively.
Starting XI
- Trialist 2. Matt Yates (Kai Redgrave) 3. Trialist 4. Ryan Lowe 5. Billy Cracknell (Lion Bello) 6. Frankie Edwards 7. Donell Thomas 8. Gene Kennedy 9. Bradley Ihionvien 10. Trialist (Oscar Thorn) 11. Kaan Bennett
Substitutes
- Harrison Chamberlain 14. Jaiden Drakes-Thomas