In case anyone didn’t know, the Under 18s entertained Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday morning and won it 3-2 with a last minute penalty. You could say that this was a good omen for the afternoon to come, and so it proved. I wasn’t there for that first match because, for the second successive week, I was on the train instead of in my car, and I rolled into town on time at 1340. Barnsley welcomed me with a nice shower of rain but it didn’t stop me having a wander round, taking in a last ever view of the old Co-op building before the wrecking crew move in. It’s always sad when an iconic building is destroyed but, like everyone else of my age group, my memories are of Christmas toy displays, a working model railway and those zip wires that pinged the money from counter to cash office, with your change coming back a few seconds later. I was in my seat around 20 minutes before kick-off and, as ever, the crowd was a little thin. It would soon build up though and I couldn’t wait for the start of my first match against Rotherham for twenty years or more. I can’t remember the last time I saw them at Oakwell but I couldn’t help thinking back to Millers teams of old, with the likes of Trevor Phillips at number nine. I always took an interest in his career because I played against him a few times at school boy level and was always a bit peeved that he chose to join the “bigger” club down the road, rather than Barnsley. Things are different now though. The Millers might be justifiably proud of their new home, and their second division status, but from what we saw yesterday I would say the latter is very much under threat. Unless Alan Stubbs turns things around I can see them finishing bottom this season. They really were very poor and most of their fans that called P or G later on said as much. A few gave us some credit for playing better but, as ever, the opposition manager failed to do so, blaming his own team’s shortcomings instead. In truth some of that second half football was not far off the Derby and QPR standard, but you could argue that going two goals down forced Rotherham to come out, thus giving us more space. I don’t buy that though. I think we played them off the park and could have run out 6 or 7-0 winners. It’s easy to get carried away after three successive home wins but it’s not often that we get off to this kind of start, playing such a high standard of football. Like everyone else I am a bit sad to see Alfie go but that’s football. He is replaceable and, on yesterday’s evidence, his replacement might have been with us all summer long. Angus MacDonald started with a few wobbles and made a sprinkling of misplaced passes throughout but he just grew into his game and ended up with the crowd very much on his side. I mistook him a couple of times for Roberts (he’ll have to ditch the blonde hair!) but that is really a compliment to his play. He got stuck in, played balls out of defence with head and feet and proved a more than able partner for his senior team mate. It’s astonishing that we have picked him up from Torquay but it’s just a progression of our recent policy. We have clearly got a PROPER scouting team in place now and long may that continue. It’s only one game so let’s just get behind the lad if we end up with no incoming defenders this week. Roberts started with similar wobbles last season and look what happened to him! The defence as a unit looked good yesterday. I was especially impressed with Yiadom and White who defended well but also have the capability to run past the opposition with the ball. Andy proved he can land a good cross as well – just look at that one to Bradshaw! He didn’t just float it or lob it hopefully for someone. It looked like a deliberate chip to me. It was intended for Tom’s head and it went there without him having to change step. What a great header though – he got up high and the ball sailed over the keeper into the far corner. It was an exquisite goal and if Rotherham had any thoughts of getting back into the game that killed them. I can’t decide which goal I like best – that one or the fourth. I was already close to the exits when that last one went in (not wanting to miss my train) but I had simply moved from the ESL half way line down to the Ponty End corner where I could make a quick getaway. The view was not as good as normal there but it was good enough. Ryan Kent had spent the whole match going past people, showing his tricks but failing with a final ball or not quite managing to get his shot away at the right time. This was different though. He played a lovely one-two with our Captain Fantastic and then curled a beauty high into the corner of the net. Cue pandemonium all around, including the incursion of small boy who wanted to celebrate with the players. He was quickly dragged away and it looked like the stewards were going to take him into custody. The fans in that corner almost rioted but, perhaps sensibly, they opened the gate and let him back into the seats, thus avoiding a situation that could have soured the end of a great second half. The lad shouldn’t have been where he was, no doubt, but you could see why. It is worth mentioning though that he sprinted from his position right behind the goal to the celebration huddle so it wasn't a spontaneous hop over the fence. I can’t leave this without mentioning the terrific support once again. The Ponty looked almost full and were in terrific voice. I hope this continues because if we keep this up we are going to win more than we lose this season and that, for me, will be a great result. I suppose I ought to give the other two goals a mention. Marc Roberts played the senior role in defence yesterday which is remarkable considering his age and experience, but he had to do it. He refrained from going up to take long throws because he didn’t want to ignore his “minder” duties. That showed what a player we have and one which might well go the same way as Alfie, in time. He was there though to snap up the first goal in messy fashion but who cares! He was there and it got us off and running only nine minutes after the break. Don’t forget as well that Hourihane nearly broke the deadlock just before that with a cracking effort that was well saved by Camp in their goal. From then on it was obvious to me that we were going to win and when Adam Hammill set off on a trademark run, cutting inside, you just knew what was going to happen. His low shot took a deflection and wrong-footed the keeper and he then went to the corner flag doing the traditional “baby cradling” gesture to the fans. What a brilliant week for Adam. Well done sir! Well done the whole team and management. The joy of last season just goes on and let’s hope we can enjoy it for quite a bit longer. For me though I am off on my own International Break this week which means I can’t see a match now until October. I’ve got two overseas trips which fill up most of September and I am sorry that I will miss the Reading and Villa home games. I am back in time for Leeds away so that will probably be my next match. I hope we carry on in this form during my absence and I shall be following the matches on my laptop from both Poland and Portugal.
Thanks. Shocking planning though, two in the same month AND in the football season. Needless to say it wasn't ME who arranged either of them