Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
TYKE THAT!
It’s goodnight Vienna, but then Barnsley are rescued by Austrian
PATRICK SCHMIDT’S 93rd-minute winner earned Barnsley a stay of execution and left Nottingham Forest waiting to clinch their play-off place.
And it was no more than Gerhard Struber’s strugglers deserved after laying siege to the Forest goal for most of a one-sided game.
They were staring relegation in the face at the end of normal time but Austrian Schmidt, who had been on the pitch for only eight minutes, got on the end of Jacob Brown’s header to sweep home.
With a trip to Brentford looming, the odds are still stacked against Barnsley, though potential points deductions for both Wigan and Sheffield Wednesday could yet save them.
These sides might be separated by two divisions in September but no one would have thought it was the hosts who are facing thirdtier football.
Just as at Leeds last Thursday, Barnsley didn’t play like a side rooted to the foot of
the table. But they left it late to keep their campaign alive with Schmidt celebrating his 22nd birthday three days early with his first goal this year.
Struber, who had raced onto the pitch to join in celebrations, said: “It was a special moment. There was an emotional expression in my heart because we worked so hard. From the first second to the last, my boys had control and never lost belief.
“We are still in this fight and believe we can stay up.”
Even if Forest do finish in the top six, this was hardly a display which will make their promotion rivals lose any sleep. They are at home to Stoke on Wednesday and need only a point to confirm a play-off place.
“That was a big disappointment,” said manager Sabri Lamouchi. “The worst scenario. They wanted this win more than us and they fully deserved it.”
Alex Mowatt and Luke Thomas both tested Forest keeper Jordan Smith in the opening six minutes while Conor Chaplin flashed a shot across the face of goal just before the first drinks break. Thomas went close again with a 33rd-minute shot from the edge of the box which skimmed the bar before Mowatt’s drive flashed wide. Forest, however, did threaten when Ben Watson slipped the ball through to Lewis Grabban but the visitors’ top scorer dragged his effort off target.
The introduction of sub Sammy Ameobi, who had scored twice against playoff-chasing Swansea in midweek, breathed fresh life into the visitors.
But Barnsley continued to look the more likely scorers with Marcel Ritzmaier’s deflected shot hitting the upright and Joe Worrall clearing sub Matty Wolfe’s attempt off the line before Schmidt pounced.