HALLOWEEN was six days away but the 'Oakwell curse' for Rotherham United was broken as Barnsley fell to defeat against the Millers at home for the first time in the league in 56 years.
There's been 20 James Bond films released since Lee Brogden scored the only goal of the game in front of over 13,000 fans back on Good Friday in 1969.
It's so long ago that the former player at Mark Crook's Wolves' juniors team in Brampton couldn't even remember it when questioned about the goal.
Harold Wilson was the Prime Minister when that game took place.
The internet wouldn't be created for another 14 years, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first men to walk on the moon and 'I Heard It Through the Grapevine' by Marvin Gaye was number one on the worldwide charts.
That's how rare this win was for Rotherham.
The Millers started the game poorly and Barnsley should have taken the lead in the second minute but David McGoldrick could only hit the post with his header from inside the box.
Barnsley came close again on 35 minutes through captain Connell but his free-kick from the edge of the area was superbly tipped wide by Millers' 'keeper Cameron Dawson.
Spence scored the winner for Matt Hamshaw's side in the 64th minute after hitting a superb 20-yard strike past Cooper in the Barnsley goal.
The result extended Barnsley's winless run in the league to five games.
The Millers are now just one point behind Barnsley in the League One table.
Reds now winless in five in League One
Barnsley now haven't won in the third tier since a 3-2 victory at Oakwell against Reading on September 18.
That's simply not good enough for a side who surely should be battling towards the top end of the table this season.
Admittedly those games have either been lost or drawn in fine margins.
They conceded late at Blackpool and at Wycombe.
And the Bradford draw was a positive one against a side who are right at the top of the table.
But they still need to find a way to win.
Hourihane said post-match that his players couldn't really have given much more.
I'm not quite sure that's the case as the Reds, despite having two-thirds of the ball and 19 shots on goal, never really looked like scoring after Rotherham took the lead.
There are some positives, though.
McGoldrick looked like he was back to his normal self after finding himself out of the team for the past few games.
He worked well alongside Davis Keillor-Dunn and Reyes Cleary up top and should have scored in the opening few minutes.
Luca Connell and Jonathan Bland worked their socks off in the middle of the pitch and the full-backs were good both offensively and defensively.
Patrick Kelly, making his first start in the league at Oakwell, was another stand out performer.
He brought the ball out of defence well and often skipped past defenders creating chances further forward.
He's looking increasingly like a player who will be important this season.
But there's just something missing.
And Hourihane needs to find out what that is and get his side back on track, sooner rather than later.
First home loss to Millers since 1970
This was a game the Reds always win, or at least never lose.
Barnsley had won their last seven meetings against Rotherham, including earlier this season in the EFL Cup when they came from behind at Oakwell to win 2-1 thanks to goals by Jon Russell and Adam Phillips.
Phillips scored a penalty in the Reds’ 1-0 win at The New York Stadium in February while Russell and Stephen Humphrys netted in a 2-0 home success in November last year.
The Reds were unbeaten in 14 meetings since 1982 while the Millers had not won at Oakwell in 16 attempts since 1970.
But not anymore.
There was almost an expectation before the game that the Reds would end their poor league run about come out of this game with three points.
Hourihane said before the game that the long unbeaten run against the Millers wasn't something at the front of his mind.
But it'll be at the front of fans' now and it'll certainly leave them frustrated.
They now have another week away from League One and will hope to bring back some positivity to Oakwell against National League York City in the FA Cup on Saturday.
Atmosphere up and down
Before this South Yorkshire derby Hourihane had called on the crowd to back their side and be louder than they have in recent games.
And they did that from the start.
For the first 20 minutes the Reds' faithful were as loud as they have been all season at Oakwell and it certainly gave the players the edge on the pitch.
But, as it has for almost all of the season, the atmosphere fell flat again.
And in turn, so did the team.
It's understandably difficult to be shouting loud and proud when you're watching your side lose and, in truth, the players didn't give them much to shout about in the second half.
But you could see the boost that the Millers' players got when their travelling fans were backing them.
They roared the goal in and were almost the 12th man for the away side in the final few minutes.
After the game Hourihane asked fans to stay with the side - and be their 12th man - but with the Reds now winless in five it seems like it's not going to be a quick fix.
Reyes Cleary shining light
After stealing the show during last weekend's 2-2 draw with Bradford City thanks to a screamer from his own half, Cleary was never going to hit the same heights.
But he tried his best.
He was undoubtedly Barnsley's best player and deserved the 'man of the match' accolade he received.
His ability to take on defenders and skip past them is second to none in this league.
He gets fans off their feet and excited and that's not the type of player the Reds have had in abundance in recent years.
On a number of occasions he used his skill to break into the box but his shots on goal never really had the power or precision needed.
Caylan Vickers, the usual winger at Oakwell, dropped to the bench and struggled to make an impact when coming on.
It was clear that the Reds needed wingers in the summer transfer window to fit Hourihane's style but he's got to work with what's at his disposal.
And Cleary is certainly an exciting prospect.
No clean sheet
Barnsley haven't kept a clean sheet since August 19.
But it's hard to say that's the fault of any one player.
Murphy Cooper has probably been one of Barnsley's best players so far this campaign.
Barring a few mistakes he's been a brick wall at times in between the sticks and has given the Reds that much-needed stability in goal that they so clearly lacked last season.
On Saturday the Reds looked much stronger defensively than they have in previous weeks.
If it wasn't for the wonder strike from Spence half way through the second half then they'd have come away with at least a point.
But there's no point thinking about what could have happened.
Marc Roberts came in for the injured Josh Earl and other than an early booking he performed well.
As did his centre-back partner Jack Shepherd.
They made almost no mistakes and kept Jordan Hugill, then Sam Nombe, extremely quiet.
But if Reds continue to keep conceding goals so often then they're always going to be facing an uphill battle.
They need to find the right mix between free-flowing attacking football and defensively astute.
If they can do that then they could be in with a shout of the play-offs.
