Valerien’s chuffed with three on the trot
BRISTOL C ..0 BARNSLEY ...1
VALERIEN ISMAEL described a third successive Barnsley victory as a step nearer Championship safety after Carlton Morris hit a 67th-minute winner.
While the Tykes fans are understandably starting to look towards the play-off zone following a five-match unbeaten run in the league, the manager is keeping feet firmly on the ground.
“We are now five points off reaching the line of 50 points and that remains our first target,” said Ismael. “I do not want to dream of anything more at this stage. I don’t look beyond the next game and that is a very tough one against Stoke City.
“Today we dominated the first half. Michal Helik should have scored and Daryl Dike was also not far away. But we kept to our game plan and the goal came.”
Substitute Morris tapped home his third goal in as many games from point-blank range to settle the outcome after an Alex Mowatt corner had led to a desperate scramble in the City goalmouth.
It was no more than Barnsley deserved after creating all the chances in a one-sided game.
Hapless City managed just one shot on target in the entire game. It made painful watching for Paul Simpson and Keith Downing, placed in caretaker charge following Dean Holden’s sacking on Tuesday night.
Simpson said: “They were physically and mentally tougher.”
BRISTOL CITY: Bentley 6; Mariappa
5, Kalas 6, Moore 5; Hunt 5, Vyner 5 (Paterson (69th) 5); Lansbury 5 (Bakinson
(57th) 5), Sessegnon 5 (Nagy 75th); Semenyo 5 (Wells (69th) 5), Diedhiou 5, Palmer 5
BARNSLEY: Collins 7; Sollbauer 7 (Sibbick
75th), Helik 8, Andersen 7; Brittain 7, Palmer 7, Mowatt 8, Styles 7 (Williams
(57th) 6); Chaplin 7 (Morris (57th) 6), Dike
7 (Frieser 82nd), Woodrow 6 (Adeboyejo
(57th) 6)
STAR MAN: Alex Mowatt
REF: J Linington