Two late pieces of quality ensures young Reds overcome Magpies PREVIOUS MEETINGS
Ten years on from scoring 4 goals in 19 minutes for Barnsley at his hometown club, Craig Davies looks back at that day and his career with Reds
A DECADE ago this week, Barnsley striker Craig Davies netted four times in 19 minutes against his hometown club Birmingham City, celebrated to wind up his friends and missed the team bus home.
The Reds, under Keith Hill, won 5-0 at St Andrew’s with Stephen Foster opening the scoring before Davies netted in the 54th, 60th, 65th and 73rd minutes past future England and Barnsley goalkeeper Jack Butland.
It was the 13th time a Barnsley player had netted four or more goals in a game but the only other occasion since the 1950s was when David Currie hit a quardruple in a 5-2 win over Bournemouth in 1988.
Davies, who grew up in Birmingham, told the Chronicle: “From early on in the game I just had the feeling that I had the beating of the two centre-halves. Everything came short to me in the first half so I made a big point at half-time of telling the midfielders to play the ball in behind the defence and I would get in. I obviously got massive joy out of it.
“My friends who are Blues fans had been telling me not to celebrate if I scored but I was adamant that I would. I think that’s why I took my top off after the first goal. When the second one went in, I was buzzing, then the third one went in and it didn’t feel real then then the fourth one went in and I was thinking: ‘what is going on here?’
“Birmingham had a good team. They had been in the Premier League that long before.
WITH 11 changes made and five players making their first starts for the club, there’s no surprise two debutants grabbed the headlines against Newcastle under 21s on Tuesday.
Jack Butterfill’s first professional goal and a stunning Ziyad Larkeche free-kick sealed a 2-0 victory for Michael Duff’s side in the Papa John’s Trophy.
The Reds left it late to beat their opponents, but two first-time Reds grabbed the goals at Oakwell.
Barnsley made 11 changes from their 3-0 victory at Cambridge on Saturday.
There were first starts for new loanee Ziyad Larkeche, Adam Phillips, Josh Martin, Jamie Searle and Fabio Jalo.
The Reds were without their two first choice ‘keepers as both Brad Collins and Jack Walton were ruled out through injury.
Searle started between the sticks following his brief appearance against the Us, with young keeper Paul Cooper picking up his place on the bench.
The Kiwi goalie had very little to do in truth, but his distribution and leadership was there to see throughout the game as he picked up his second clean sheet in as many matches, albeit against an extremely young Newcastle team.
Michael Duff watched the game from the director’s box yet again in a bid to gain a clearer view of how the Reds were structured, and on occasion Barnsley Academy manager Bobby Hassell would offer his experience on Barnsley’s young squad.
The Reds nearly broke through inside the first five minutes as Martin took the ball down and looked to play through highly-rated Fabio Jalo – but it was just too much for the youngster and the ball was safely collected by Newcastle ‘keeper Jude Smith.
The 16-year-old forward scored 27 goals for the
“I think we had lost the game before at home to Blackburn and I actually probably played better. But as an occasion and a memory it is one of the best.
“There are only a handful of games that really stand out from my career – my professional debut, my debut for Wales, and that Birmingham game is definitely another one.”
There was confusion after the match when Davies missed the team bus.
“I did loads of interviews then I went back to the changing room which was empty, then I went outside and the coach had gone. I just found it funny.
“It sums up how buzzing the lads were and how big a deal the result was, there was no headcount on the bus.
“My car was at a service station on the motorway anyway and I lived in Birmingham at the time. It was easy to sort out.
“I remember walking out of the ground and a steward telling me not to go down that way on my own but I said: ‘don’t worry I live around here’.” Davies still lives in the Birmingham area.
“The Blues were my local team and I went to watch them a lot as a kid.
“I have a lot of friends who are season ticket holders.
“I got my haircut two minutes from the stadium the day before the match. Whenever I played against Birmingham it was always a big thing for me.
“I was in the gym a few weeks ago and a guy, who I know a little bit, came up to me said: ‘I didn’t realise you scored four against us.’ What young Reds last season and has been handed a chance in cup competitions so far this year.
It’s evident he has bags of talent, skipping past the Newcastle back line on numerous occasions but, like many of Barnsley’s youth products, there’s still more for him to work on before he can begin to play in league games against much tougher opposition.
The first real chance of the game came for the away side as Jay Turner-Cooke’s fierce shot went just over from 20 yards.
It took 12 minutes for Barnsley’s first real chance as Nicky Cadden whipped in a fantastic cross straight onto the head of Jalo, but his header went just wide – he was later judged to have been offside. The Scotsman Cadden captained Barnsley in the first half before being subbed off at the break.
He played on the left side of the back three, perhaps an unfamiliar position for the attacking full back but he made it his own and still managed to tease Elliot Dickman’s Newcastle side.
Just before the break the Reds had two fantastic chances to take the lead.
First, Slobodan Tedic tested the Newcastle ‘keeper who provided a fine save to turn it round for a corner. Then, from that corner, Joe Ackroyd rattled the crossbar from a header.
The best chance of the first half fell to Tedic who somehow didn’t turn Larkeche’s cross home, missing the goal from two yards out.
It’s the type of chance you’d expect a striker to be taking – but he’s still getting used to playing football in England and getting more minutes on the pitch will only improve his confidence going forward.
It was somewhat of a lacklustre first half, but assistant head coach Martin Paterson said after the game the coaching staff were ‘quite firm’ with the players at the break – and it clearly worked.
Just minutes into the second half and the
Serbian forward forced Smith into a smart save – Martin then should have opened the scoring but am I supposed to say? ‘Hi, I scored four against Birmingham?’
Davies says the Birmingham game was not his favourite for Barnsley.
It was actually the 4-1 hammering of Leeds United on New Year’s Eve 2011 in which he scored once and substitute Ricardo Vaz Te hit a hat-trick.
“It was a massive game on New Year’s Eve, the stadium was full and we absolutely handed it to them in an amazing atmosphere. It was perfect.
“The fans didn’t like each other, nor did the players, and I loved those type of games. We just bullied them, and it was men against boys.
“One of Vaz’s goals is my goal, I was a yard out and I tapped it in. I tried to claim it but I am over it now.”
Davies – who retired from playing in 2020 and is working on his coaching badges – played for 15 clubs in a 16-year professional career, but made the most appearances for Barnsley with 64 in which he netted 20 goals.
He signed in the summer of 2011 from Chesterfield, where he had netted 23 League Two goals, and made his name in the Championship before moving to Bolton Wanderers for a reported £300,000 in January 2013.
“I really enjoyed it at Barnsley. It didn’t end well but 95 per cent of the time I was there, I loved it.
“I left under a bit of a cloud and looked like I wanted to leave because we were struggling in the league. But I hadn’t been offered a new contract, just a few promises, then Bolton came in and I went. I didn’t turn down a new contract or hand in a transfer request. It ended badly when it didn’t saw his effort well saved.
The Reds took the lead as Butterfill scored his first professional goal eight minutes into his senior debut as his shot rippled into the back of the net.
The 18-year-old has been bagging in the goals for the youth team this season and finally got his chance in the senior squad and generally impressed both the fans and coaching staff.
Fulham loanee Larkeche scored an absolute stunner with six minutes to play to secure the win
The Reds face Doncaster Rovers in their final group game of the competition next month.
Barnsley (3-4-3): Searle 7; Cadden 7 (Lancaster, 46), Moon 7, McCarthy 6, Hondermarck 6, Larkeche 8 (Pickard, 88), Ackroyd 8, Phillips 7 (Nejman, 46), Martin, 7 (Hartley, 74), Tedic 6, Jalo 6 (Butterfill, 70). Unused: Paul Cooper, Danny Benson.
Goals: Butterfill 78, Larkeche 84. Bookings: McCarthy, Hondermarck.
Newcastle (4-3-3): Smith; Carlyon (Barclay, 88), Wiggett, Brookwell, Bondswell, Turner-Cook, Stanton (Ferguson, 88), Scott (Parkinson, 80), White, Crossley (Hackett, 73), Stephenson.
Unused substitutes: Brown, Thompson, Bailey.
Referee: Scott Oldham (Lancashire).
Attendance: 1,664. need to. I got a few pelters but it was nothing I could really control.
“I always look for Barnsley’s results and want them to do well. They helped my career get back on track and gave me a platform in the Championship, so I am grateful.
“I played under Keith Hill and David Flitcroft. I wasn’t sure if I liked them at first and I had a funny relationship with them but, by the second season, I understood how much they were trying to help me and they’re two of the best coaches I had in my career.
“I felt sad to leave because I had a really strong bond with six or seven players in that team. I am still mates with a lot of them.
“There was talk of me coming back in 2017 when I was at Wigan but I was told they had a policy of only signing players aged 25 or younger.”
Davies left in the same window as John Stones, who is now a centre-back with Manchester City and England.
“Of all the young players I have played with, he’s by far the best. As soon as he came in to train with us, he wasn’t that physically strong and he was quite shy, but he was probably the best player on the ball when he was 17.
“I remember his attitude was so good and he was always asking questions.
“I remember telling him to go away and work hard over the summer, which wasn’t as much of a thing to do then as it is now. He came back for pre-season and he was ahead of everyone in the running. Then got in the team, scored in the first game at Rochdale, and kept his place.”
Goals: Jack Butterfill and Ziyad Larkeche (top). Pictures: Keith Turner.
Reds 1, Addicks 0 – April 24, 1982
Norman Hunter was about to take off Colin Walker when his side won a corner, which was taken by Alan Birch, flicked on by Ian Evans and scored by Walker.
Reds 2, Addicks 1 – December 14, 1985
David Hirst, then 18, was forging a fine reputation and added to it with a brace in this game. He opened the scoring in the sixth minute then got another just before half-time. Charlton pulled one back but were beaten.
Reds 1, Addicks 0 – February 29, 1992
The last in a run of 11 Charlton trips to Oakwell without victory since 1936. Owen Archdeacon got the goal as he ran clean through after a mix-up in the visiting defence and beat the goalkeeper.
Reds 4, Addicks 0 – April 12, 1997
The biggest win in Barnsley’s greatest season put them very close to the Premiership, which they would reach a few weeks later. The goals came in two bursts, with Clint Marcelle and Neil Thompson scoring late in the first half then John Hendrie and Thompson netting superb goals in the final ten minutes.
Reds 2, Addicks 1 – December 29, 2018
Barnsley took control of this game against their promotion rivals with two goals in the first 14 minutes. Brad Potts opened the scoring then Mamadou Thiam finished off a superb team move. Ben Reeves replied in the second half.