One point gained or two points lost? Reflections from Barnsley’s draw with Derby County

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High-flying Barnsley FC shared the spoils with Derby County at Oakwell on Wednesday night in a hard-fought encounter in South Yorkshire.

The point sees Barnsley’s seven-game winning streak come to an end while Derby picked up a much-needed point after consecutive defeats against Cardiff City and Coventry City respectively.

The result in Yorkshire sees Derby occupy 18th spot in the league table, while Valerien Ismael’s Barnsley remain sixth, in spite of their dropped points. Here are some reflections the Tykes can take out of the game.

The winning streak comes to an end

Perhaps the biggest talking point from a Barnsley perspective after the result last night is that the Reds winning run, that had propelled them into the play-off reckoning, is now over.

While a point is a good result, this was a game in hand on some of their promotion rivals and a win would’ve gone a long way to strengthening their top-six credentials.

However with the Tykes not at their brilliant best they may feel happy enough with the point they picked up on the evening, which extends their unbeaten run and gives them a two-point gap over Bouremouth going into their crucial matchup on Saturday.

A strong showing defensively

A positive to come out of the result for Barnsley will be their strong showing in defence.

Valerien Ismael’s side was rarely troubled by the visiting Derby County on the night, with a missed opportunity from Lee Gregory one of the few threats they faced on the evening.

The clean sheet should please Ismael after another solid performance from Brad Collins in the Tykes goal, who has really established himself as the first-choice for Barnsley in their push for the play-offs.

Scoreless for the first time in eight League outings

On the contrary, a concern for Valerien Ismael will be the fact that Barnsley failed to score for the first time in eight league outings.

The Yorkshire based side had gone on an incredible run of form of finding the net in their outings in the Championship, which had stretched back to their goalless draw with Nottingham Forest all the way back at the end of January.

While this won’t prove to be a huge concern for Ismael yet, he must ensure his Barnsley side rediscover his goalscoring form in front of goal soon, as it’s proved to be just as important as their prowess in defence.

Conclusion

To conclude, only Barnsley’s result against Bournemouth on Saturday will determine how important the outcome tonight will prove.

A win tonight for Barnsley would’ve given them the insurance policy of staying above Bournemouth in the table, even if the Cherries were victorious in their encounter at the weekend.

But as long as Valerien Ismael can deliver three points at the south coast on Saturday, all will be forgotten from tonight and the result against Derby will be very much seen as one point gained. A loss however against Bouremouth could see the Tykes rue a missed opportunity to extend their winning run of form.