Barnsley vs Hull City. Sky Bet Championship.
Oakwell StadiumAttendance13,003.
Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Barnsley and Hull City at Oakwell as goals from George Honeyman and Keane Lewis-Potter sealed a massive victory for the Tigers on Saturday.
Saturday 6 November 2021 18:48, UK
George Honeyman and Keane Lewis-Potter scored to secure a valuable 2-0 win for Hull over relegation rivals Barnsley at Oakwell.
The Tigers, who had lost their last five Sky Bet Championship games, were on the front foot for large parts of the game and got a deserved victory over the managerless Tykes.
Barnsley caretaker-boss Joseph Laumann made three changes to the team that claimed a big win against Derby on Wednesday night, with Jordan Williams, Liam Kitching and Devante Cole coming in.
Hull's Grant McCann made two changes to his team from the defeat at West Brom, with Nathan Baxter and Di'Shon Bernard joining the starting XI.
There was a brief spell of pressure from the home side in the opening exchanges but the first real chances fell to Hull.
The ball was cut back to the edge of the Barnsley box for Richie Smallwood but he could not keep his volley down.
Josh Magennis was the next to have a go at goal. The Hull forward did well to create space for himself but his left-footed effort failed to hit the target. Jacob Greaves then saw his header go just wide of Brad Collins' post.
The Tigers got the goal their domination deserved on 33 minutes. Collins did well to stop Jasper Moon from turning into his own net but Honeyman followed up and clinically finished into the bottom corner.
Mallik Wilks had the last chance of the half when he looped his header wide and the away side went into the break good value for their lead.
The first chance of the second period came after Hull hit Barnsley on a counter-attack, the ball fell to Greg Docherty from close range but Collins produced a top save and Magennis blasted his follow-up over the bar.
That was a wake-up call for the Reds and they started to create some openings of their own. Home substitute Callum Styles had a try from distance but Baxter's save was a comfortable one.
Callum Brittain then had time and space in the box but could only land his effort straight into the arms of Hull's man in goal.
The Tigers were defending resolutely and, in the 75th minute, broke away to score a vital second. Honeyman found Lewis-Potter on the right, who coolly slotted home.
Hull's Ryan Longman was inches away from adding a third but the substitute's strike cannoned back off the post and into the arms of Collins.
The victory for Hull was their first away success since the opening game of the season and sees them leapfrog Barnsley into 22nd in the table.
Barnsley caretaker manager Joseph Laumann: "Today is a big disappointment. It's a missed opportunity to make a big step forward. We had a good first 15 minutes but after conceding we lost our rhythm. We put pressure on them in the second half but we were not decisive enough in the final third of the pitch.
"We looked a little bit tired at the end. We have got a lot of players coming back after the break. I'm sure we have the depth and quality to not be in the bottom three. We need to keep on going, we'll have a couple of days off and then we'll keep moving forward."
Hull's Grant McCann: "It's a big win. The two-week break has probably come at the wrong time for us. I said how resilient we were defensively against West Brom and we had to do that again today. We know we've got goals in this team, we just need the belief and confidence. Our away form was good last year and we want to have that again this year.
"It was good to see us throwing bodies in the way and showing we didn't want to concede against a Barnsley side that got a great result against Derby. They are a good pressing team so we had to be calm and composed. Our shape and structure behind the ball is the most important thing. If we can get that right, the front three can be effective. The impact from the substitutes was outstanding so it's pleasing to see a whole squad effort today."
