BY HECK, HOT BLADES ARE IN WITH A SHOUT
PAUL Heckingbottom saluted his Sheffield United side’s mentality as they took a step nearer promotion.
Midfielder Sander Berge grabbed his third goal in four games and Morgan Gibbs-White capped off an impressive second-half display to secure victory.
Boss Heckingbottom said: “Half-time was about the mentality and not wasting all the hard work that we’ve done over the past few months and seizing the opportunity as well as demanding a quicker pace in everything we did.
“We did that from the first whistle in the second half. I thought Barnsley stayed with us for the first ten minutes but after the goal we took control of the game.
“We work hard at set plays, Oli [Norwood] saw that Conor [Hourihane] was on early, I expect quality and that’s what he showed, it was a big moment in the game.
“Of course we want to keep this run going and the clean sheets at home and being difficult to play against, but it takes a lot.’’
Early on, Barnsley’s Domingos Quina played a well-timed through ball into Carlton Morris which put him through on goal, but Wes Foderingham did well to come and claim it.
Michal Helik headed down a cross which found Matty Wolfe in the centre of the box whose right-footed shot was saved brilliantly by Foderingham.
Defender Jack Robinson almost opened the scoring for United as he unleashed a powerful left-footed strike from outside the box which narrowly missed to the right.
A free-kick delivery by Norwood from the left found Gibbs-White, who headed the ball on target, but it didn’t have enough conviction to trouble Brad Collins.
Berge found Ben Osborn on the right who cut inside on his left foot and struck the ball wide to the left.
Berge put United ahead in the 54th minute. Hourihane whipped in a low cross from the left which found Berge at the back post and he slotted the ball home. Billy Sharp picked up an injury midway through the second half which resulted in Daniel Jebbison replacing him.
Gibbs-White drove down the left flank and picked out Osborn in the box, whose shot from the right went wide.
The Blades doubled their lead in the 76th minute when substitute Oli McBurnie played through Gibbs-White, who showed composure to take the ball round Collins and pass the ball into the net.
Morris went close in the final stages as his close-range header went over the crossbar.
Barnsley boss Poya Asbaghi, whose side are deep in a relegation battle, said: “We had the game exactly where we wanted it in the first half, and for the beginning of the second half up until they got a free-kick from which they scored.
“The first thing I said before going back out to the second half was that they are quick with their set-pieces.
“After the goal I was disappointed with our reaction. You are going to suffer but you have to be good at suffering. We’re a young team, but we need to improve on this.”