WYCOMBE 1
DOUBLE HERO WOODROW SEALS IT FOR REDS
DANIEL STENDEL praised Cauley Woodrow for getting stuck in as Barnsley cemented second spot against 10-man Wycombe.
Woodrow slotted home a penalty after Luke Bolton fouled Mike Bahre and doubled his tally when he fired Jacob Brown’s low ball high into the net for his 10th goal in 15 starts.
That followed a delay for Bolton to get medical treatment with the resulting 10 minutes of added time featuring a red card for the visitors’ Adam El-Abd when he appeared to pull Cameron McGeehan’s hair.
The Chairboys also pulled a goal back from the spot courtesy of Joe Jacobson but it was too late. Victory took Barnsley’s unbeaten record to 12 games and gives them a five- point cushion over Portsmouth.
Reds boss Stendel praised Woodrow – on loan from Fulham – for stepping up in the absence of leading scorer Kieffer Moore who missed out with a head injury.
“I am happy about his performance, especially after the injury to Kieffer Moore. We need his goals and he takes this responsibility and he scored and he played very well,” Stendel said.
“He is a leader in our team.”
Barnsley can cut the gap on leaders Luton to three points against Burton on Tuesday. Stendel said: “Tuesday we have the game against Burton and that is the next chance to get three points.
“It is important that we win our games and then it doesn’t matter what the other teams do.”
Wycombe started brightly and it took a well- timed block by Dimitri Cavare to prevent Nick Freeman from opening the scoring.
But Woodrow made no mistake from the spot, although Bolton was adamant he had got the ball and not Bahre.
Alex Mowatt missed a chance when Woodrow’s dinked ball found him oneon- one with Ryan Allsop who made the block.
Woodrow claimed his second before Allsop tipped his header over.
There was time for the red card and goal in added time but it was too late for Wycombe who drop to 11th.
Boss G a re t h Ainsworth said: “On the whole they probably edged it and the result says that.
“They had some good chances and ours were few and far between, but we’ve given a really good account of ourselves.”