CATS FIVE POINTS OFF SAFETY AS FOES DRAW
HULL BOSS DISAPPOINTED DESPITE FIGHTING BACK FOR PRECIOUS POINT AGAINST BARNSLEY
Sunderland are five points adrift of Championship safety following Barnsley’s 1-1 draw at fellow strugglers Hull City last night.
The Tykes, in fourth bottom spot, rose to 32 points thanks to their point against the fifth-bottom Tigers.
Oli McBurnie, who opted to join Barnsley on loan from Swansea in January despite interest from Sunderland, put the Oakwell men in front, but experienced centre-back Michael Dawson rescued Hull with a 73rd-minute leveller.
Sunderland, with 12 games to go, are bottom on 27 points, joined in the drop zone by Burton Albion (29) and Birmingham City (30).
Barnsley have 32 points, and a much superior goal difference compared to the three sides below them, with Hull one point better off, on 33.
Hull manager Nigel Adkins, who extended his side’s unbeaten home run to eight games in all competitions, was a little disappointed.
“We were looking for all three points. We didn’t reach the heights we reached on Friday (in a 1-0 win over Sheffield United) in the first half,” he said.
“We gifted them a goal and they’ve had something to hang onto. They’ve put everyone behind the ball and it’s up to us to break them down.
“We’ve had enough opportunities in and around the box – we’ve had 17 shots on goal – but it was captain Dawson who’s scored the allimportant goal.”
Barnsley took the lead after 21 minutes as McBurnie grabbed his third goal in two matches, rising unmarked to power a header into the top right corner from a Brad Potts cross.
Hull claimed the equaliser their second-half pressure deserved on 73 minutes.
Former Sunderland midfielder Seb Larsson’s corner from the left was not properly cleared and the ball fell to Dawson, who applied a low finish from the edge of the area.
The Tykes suffered an injury setback when centre-back Adam Jackson was stretchered off in the first half, after he suffered a serious-looking injury in a clash of heads with Hull’s Jon Toral.
The game was delayed for more than 10 minutes as Jackson was treated on the pitch. Toral sustained a jaw injury.
Oakwell manager Jose Morais said: “We came for three points. We played a very good first half and were unlucky to lose one of our central defenders. For that reason, we did a substitution we didn’t want to so early.
“But we kept good balance. In the first half, we created a lot of chances. We had a lot of good situations to score.
“It was a fantastic goal and a creative situation that gave us the lead in the game and for that reason we really deserved our advantage.”