Analysis of Barnsley's 2-1 win at Doncaster Rovers on Saturday. After Vimal Yoganathan's opener was cancelled out within five minutes, Davis Keillor-Dunn won it.

VITAL WIN TO END POOR LEAGUE RUN

BARNSLEY’S winless league run which started the first time they wore their black third kit, at Blackpool 49 days earlier, ended in its second outing at near neighbours Doncaster Rovers.

The pressure was on Conor Hourihane and his team, having not won in five in the league, with some tough-looking games to come in a sparse fixture list.

With chairman Neerav Parekh watching on, they had to soak up a lot of pressure especially in the second half which was a smash and grab as the Reds took their only chance and the hosts missed some sitters.

But Barnsley scored two excellent goals and showed resilience to see the win out, avoiding the late goals that have plagued them this season. The result was far more important than the performance in this game. It was a fantastic result and there were positive elements to the performance too.

They are still struggling defensively as a team, conceding one poor goal in this game and being lucky not to ship more as Doncaster had 14 shots in the box and Rovers’ ‘expected goals’ was two to compared to Barnsley’s 0.44.

But the Reds have won three of their last four games in all competitions and seem to be building some momentum.

The run of four Yorkshire derbies in the league and FA Cup have brought several entertaining games, four points and progression in the FA Cup. The scenes with the 3,000 away fans after the match were heartening.

While Barnsley’s bad run ended, Doncaster are winless in eight with just two points and fell to 18th.

The Reds are seven points off top and eight clear of last place with two games in hand on many sides.

KEILLOR-DUNN INTO DOUBLE FIGURES ALREADY

Davis Keillor-Dunn had started all 54 league games since he signed in August last year, other than the win at Crawley hours after his deadline day arrival.

But he was on the bench for this game having been struggling with illness in the build-up, meaning Barnsley were without two of their key attacking players as Adam Phillips is still injured.

Keillor-Dunn came on after an hour and scored minutes later, taking his tally to ten in all competitions this season in the first week of November. His seven goals in League One make him the joint top-scorer in the division this season.

Having only had four touches in the opposition box in his previous two games, he had just one in this match – but it was a clinical finish into the bottom left corner from about 17 yards.

The assist was provided by Patrick Kelly, the former Doncaster man, who brilliantly beat an opponent, sprinted forward and played in Keillor-Dunn in a fantastic and direct counter-attack. That was one of four ‘key passes’ which led to a chance played by Kelly in an impressive performance.

Both goals came from Luca Connell initially passing out cleverly from defensive positions.

MILESTONE DAY FOR VIMAL

Vimal Yoganathan scored his first EFL goal to open the scoring on 33 minutes.

The 19-year-old had made his first league start since being sent off at home to Bolton in August.

He played on the right wing out of possession but drifted more centrally when the Reds had the ball.

A more attacking role is surely where his future lies having struggled as a sitting midfielder.

His only league action in the previous four games was as a late substitute at Bradford where he could easily have conceded a last-gasp penalty, while he gifted Manchester United under 21s a goal in the EFL Trophy.

Yoganathan is a raw talent, as you would expect at his age, and plays on the edge but he showed great composure to score as he jinked past a defender before sliding the ball into the bottom left corner.

The counter-attack goal saw David McGoldrick swap passes with Connell then find Reyes Cleary who supplied an excellent assist pass.

The Reds winger tormented Doncaster right-back Sean Grehan in the first half then also posed problems for his interval replacement Tom Nixon but Donny had a lot more of the ball after the break.

Cleary has frightening pace and power but also consistent end product and is surely one of the most exciting players in the division. Signing him until 2029 was a shrewd move by the Reds.

TOUGH ROONEY DEBUT

Jake Rooney, usually a centre-back, played at left-back in his first league game in 798 days since September 2, 2023 when he appeared alongside Hourihane for Derby but came off after 14 minutes with an ACL injury which set his career back.

It had looked like he might go the same way as his uncle John and never start a league game for the Reds, but injuries and illness meant he was tried on the left.

He came up against Donny’s danger man Luke Molyneux who beat him several times, including twice in the opening six minutes – one of which could have led to the opener.

Rooney battled gamely and put some good tackles in but was just outmatched against a superior performer, and much faster runner, while often not given support from those around him. The story of the first half was two wingers, Cleary and Molyneux, on different sides but the same side of the pitch, having the better of their full-backs.

Rooney was replaced at the break by Nathanael Ogbeta, who has also been ill but was well enough to play 45 minutes. One of the best blockers of crosses in the division, he was better against Molyneux but still struggled to fully contain him. Ogbeta made three interceptions which was the most of any Reds player.

REFEREE ANGERS BOTH SIDES

Doncaster thought they should have had a penalty on 85 minutes when Billy Sharp was put through and went down under contact from Tennai Watson.

But referee Darren Drysdale waved away the furious protests of the home players while ex-Red Grant McCann, now the Donny manager, was booked for his reaction.

Hourihane – a former team-mate of Sharp’s – did not comment on the penalty after the game but said he was focusing on an incident much earlier when Barnsley felt Sharp appeared to strike Jack Shepherd.

Shepherd and Marc Roberts – two former Penistone Church players at the heart of the Barnsley defence – had reasonably solid games, other than Sharp getting the better of them for Donny’s goal, with most of the home chances coming from the wings or set pieces.

Roberts made the most touches, headers and clearances while Shepherd blocked two shots, something he has done more than any player in the division.

The Doncaster goal was strange as the ball seemed to slip in Tennai Watson’s hands when taking an attacking throw and it looped straight to Harry Clifton whose initial ball forward was headed by Shepherd then Jordan Gibson’s volley found Sharp who held off both centre-backs and played in Molyneux for a simple finish.