HECK SEES RED BUT TYKES TAME LIONS
PAUL HECKINGBOTTOM was left scratching his head after he was sent to the terraces during his side’s win at Millwall.
A second-half away from the touchline was the only negative point for the Barnsley boss on an afternoon during which his side recorded their first away win of the season and moved three points clear of the Championship relegation zone.
Tom Bradshaw scored in either half, sandwiching a Lee Gregory penalty in first-half stoppage time, before replacement Mamadou Thiam put the gloss on the victory with a late spot-kick of his own.
Heckingbottom was dismissed for remonstrating with the referee at the break, but was impressed with the way his side handled themselves throughout the contest at the Den.
“I made sure none of the players went up to the referee at half-time,” said Heckingbottom. “The staff’s job was to get them all away from the referee and I approached him by myself.
“When I came out in the second half to go in the technical area he told me I couldn’t go in there. I didn’t want to make a scene, but I don’t know why I wasn’t allowed to be in there in the second half.
“It was a clean tackle, we could all see it. When I watched it back it is so apparent with the Milwall players’ reactions, but the linesman’s flag went straight up.
“They were given the penalty before the referee couldn’t even make a decision. It’s just one of those things.
“I am delighted with the way we handled Millwall. We could control the game with the ball. The only blemish on it is conceding the goal and not keeping a clean sheet.”
Bradshaw opened the scoring five minutes before the break, slotting the ball home past goalkeeper Jordan Archer after a cross came from Harvey Barnes.
But while the visitors thought they had done enough to go in ahead, Millwall were awarded a penalty just before half-time when Matty Pearson brought down Gregory inside the box, and up stepped the Lions striker to confidently send a superb penalty into the top-left corner – prompting the protestations from Heckingbottom.
However Bradshaw’s second goal of the afternoon gave Barnsley the lead after an hour, the Welshman sliding the ball home from the edge of the six yard box, assisted by Barnes.
The Tykes chose to sit back after regaining the lead, hitting their hosts on the break and earning a counter-attacking penalty when Jared Bird was fouled and replacement Thiam sent Archer the wrong way to extend Barnsley’s lead, with Millwall manager Neil Harris admitting the Tykes were worthy of three points.
He said: “I was disappointed with the performance of course, and disappointed with the outcome result-wise.
“I take responsibility because I picked the team.
“If I were to take anything away from this match today, it’s if we’re not at our best Millwall standard in every fixture in the league this season we can get beat any time – home or away. Here we were not at our best as a defensive unit, we were too stretched, we gave away the ball cheaply and we were hurt on the transition.
“Ultimately, if you give any players at this standard the opportunity, they will take them. Barnsley definitely deserved to win.”