WOODROW KICKSTARTS DEADLY REDS
BARNSLEY 4 NOTTS CO 0 Stendel pleased with Magpies battering
BARNSLEY manager Daniel Stendel was pleased to see his team progress with a convincing victory against Notts County.
The home side dominated from the start and controlled much of the first half, creating the best chances.
But it took Barnsley until after the break, in the 48th minute, to open the scoring. Cameron McGeehan latched onto a loose ball and floated a pass over the defence to Cauley Woodrow who volleyed brilliantly past Ross Fitzsimons.
The Reds doubled their lead shortly after when Brad Potts was released down the right and picked out Zeki Fryers (53) who smashed his left-footed shot into the net.
Potts then turned scorer in the 77th minute, tapping home from close range after good work from top scorer Kieffer Moore.
Moore added the fourth in the 81st minute, heading in unmarked after a smart cross from Mamadou Thiam.
Stendel said: “I’m happy with the performance. It’s not easy coming into a game when you’re the favourite team.
“I think in the first half, we had a lot of patience to wait for our chance and in the second half it was good for us that we scored two minutes after half-time and then we could show how we can play.
“We created a lot of chances and four goals is good, maybe we could have scored eight but in the end, we are in the next round.
“In the first half, you could see it wasn’t a league game. It was a home game, we were favourites and were expected to win the game but the attitude in the second half made me happy.
“We weren’t happy with 20 minutes to go just being 3-0 up, we just wanted to score, score and score.
“I said before, the last two years we went out in the second round, which is the minimum we want to achieve.”
The result could have been expected, with the Magpies struggling just above the relegation zone in League Two and their opponents hoping for promotion to the Championship.
But the manner in which Harry Kewell’s men fell to defeat was perhaps unfortunate.
Kewell said: “We’re disappointed. We had an opportunity, I feel, to come to a place like Oakwell and showcase what we’re capable of doing. We had a fantastic support from the fans and I felt the first half we were on the same page.
“We were good, we were strong. We defended well, created our chances and except for Moore’s chance right at the end, I felt we should have maybe gone up one or two nil.
“Against a quality team like Barnsley who, let’s face it, are a Championship team. I don’t think they’ll stay long in League One. You can see how they work, their aggression, their fitness. If you don’t take your chances you always leave yourself open.
“We came out here in the sec-
ond half, with a game plan, we knew how to play it, but it was just two silly mistakes and we found ourselves 2-0 down.
“When you’re 2-0 down it’s an uphill battle. We’ll always push forward and leave ourselves vulnerable to try get back into the game. We’ve just got to be a little deadlier in front of goal.
“We are going to make mistakes in a game, but you expect your team-mates to help you out because it is a team game but again we can only keep working and concentrating and making sure the players know exactly what I want. If we cut the mistakes out and can put in a 45 minutes like the first half into the second, we would have given ourselves a real chance.”