Swansea leave it late to continue fine Tykes run
SWANSEA City had to bide their time, but in the end their remarkable record over Barnsley continued thanks to winning at Oakwell.
Second-half goals from Olivier Ntcham and Jamie Paterson were just reward on a night when the Swans had to be patient against a Barnsley side that were set up to contain rather than create.
The result moves Russell Martin’s side up to ninth in the standings – four points shy of the play-off places.
The Swans came into this clash with an outstanding recent record against their hosts.
They’d not tasted defeat in their last 14 meetings, including four from last season (including both play-off semi-finals).
Whilst they were coming up against a side situated in the Championship’s bottom three, they were facing one reinvigorated thanks to the appointment of Poya Asbaghi.
The former Sweden under-21 manager is an unknown quantity in these surroundings, but he certainly looked the part on the sidelines.
Martin made two alterations from the weekend draw with Blackpool.
Out went Ryan Manning and Oliver Ntcham, with Ryan Bennett and Korey Smith the beneficiaries.
After plenty of patient passing early on, the visitors soon upped the ante.
Jake Bidwell did well to dig out a cross that Ethan Laird looked destined to latch onto, only to lose his footing on the slippy Oakwell pitch inside the box.
The hosts rarely ventured forward in the first half, but they gave Swansea a mini-scare when Cauley Woodrow appealed for a penalty after appearing to be obstructed in the box. But nothing was given.
On the rare occasion that Barnsley did pierce the Swans’ defence, Kyle Naughton picked up a yellow card for a cynical, but necessary foul on Callum Styles.
With possession regularly topping 80 per cent, Martin’s men had no tangible attempts to show for it.
That was until a couple of nearmisses right at the end of the half.
First, Laird saw a close-range header cleared away for a corner. Then, Joel Piroe should have done much better from a few yards out than to lash a shot the wrong side of a post.
Barnsley had clearly had a few words said to them at the break and were much more at the races.
Josh Benson whipped over a freekick from a dangerous position after Flynn Downes clattered into Romal Palmer outside the area.
Swansea were still hogging the ball, but were finding it just as hard to break down the Barnsley backline. To try and aid that problem, Olivier Ntcham and Ryan Manning were introduced after the hour mark. And boy did those changes pay off. First, Manning picked up the ball on the left and was given too much time to pick his spot.
His centre found Ntcham perfectly from a few yards out and the Frenchman didn’t pass up the opportunity as he tucked away his third of the campaign.
Just five minutes later and Martin’s side doubled their lead. Paterson darted forward and let rip with an effort that flew past a helpless Brad Collins – his seventh of the term.
The two-goal salvo effectively killed the game as a contest with the Swans holding out comfortably to extend their fine record against the Yorkshire side.
Barnsley: Collins, Brittain, Helik, Moon, Jordan Williams, Palmer (Oulare 77), Benson, Styles, Frieser (Iseka 57), Woodrow, Cole (Morris 57). Subs Not Used: Walton, Gomes, Sibbick,A deboyejo.
Swansea: Hamer, Bennett, Naughton, Cabango, Laird, Grimes Downes (Ntcham 64), Bidwell (Manning 72), Smith, Paterson, Piroe (Cullen 86). Subs Not Used: Benda, Latibeaudiere, Walsh, Rhys Williams.
Ref: David Webb (County Durham).