Analysis of Barnsley's 3-1 win at Leyton Orient thanks to a hat-trick by David McGoldrick.
MAGNIFICENT MCGOLDRICK TREBLE
CONOR Hourihane said before this game that, due to both teams’ ability to score plenty of goals combined with poor defensive records, most people probably expected ‘a 3-3, 4-4 or something mental.’
Neither of those scorelines ever looked particularly likely during the game as Barnsley were better than their disappointing hosts, but David McGoldrick becoming the oldest player to score a hat-trick in the top four leagues of English football in more than a decade surely qualifies as ‘something mental.’
The 38-year-old continued his astonishing second half of the season, with ten goals in his last ten games since mid-January making him one of the form strikers in the country.
The treble took him to 15 goals in all competitions this season, just one behind the sold Davis Keillor-Dunn whose form limited McGoldrick’s opportunities in the first half of the campaign, and into the top ten scorers in League One with 12.
Barnsley’s philosophy across more than a decade has been to develop young players, and there is a satisfaction in watching that happen, but you cannot beat witnessing a master craftsman display the skills honed during an almost quarter-century-long career in professional football and which some doubted he still possessed.
Although all three goals were caused by Orient mistakes, Barnsley took them well with McGoldrick supplying two clinical finishes into the bottom left corner then receiving some well-deserved luck when his shot deflected onto the bar and span in for a hat-trick. He almost netted a fourth before being taken off to applause from all sides of the ground with his name booming out of the joyous away end.
It was his second hat-trick of the season, having also struck three times against Manchester United under 21s in the EFL Trophy in October. The last player to do so for Barnsley was Michael Chopra in 2004/05.
The most goals McGoldrick has ever scored in one of his 22 professional seasons was 25 for Derby, playing alongside Hourihane, in 2022/23 campaign, in which he achieved three hat-tricks.
He has been very coy about whether he will continue playing next season or if it will be at Barnsley but, putting age aside, he is arguably the Reds’ best player on current form and surely worthy of another contract offer.
The last player older than McGoldrick when they scored a hat-trick in the top four leagues in England was ex-Red Jamie Cureton in 2015.
REDS END LONG WAIT FOR AWAY WIN
Barnsley had not won away from home in the league in eight games across 112 days since a victory at neighbours Doncaster Rovers on November 8.
That was their only success in 13 across more than six months since they won at Plymouth and Peterborough in August.
But, having lost their last three at top six sides, they deservedly beat a relegation-battler on their own turf.
It was a fitting reward for the 600-odd Reds fans who, despite that poor record on the road and the scandalous 12.30pm kick-off time in London, still made the long journey and noisily backed their team.
This was the first of six successive away games against sides below Barnsley in the table so, if they repeat this level of performance and spirit, they could rack up several more victories on the road in March and April.
But the immediate focus is back at Oakwell where they now play three games in a row, and five of the next six, as they look to build on their five-match unbeaten home run at the start of 2026.
GAP TO BOTTOM FOUR IN DOUBLE FIGURES
Going to sixth-placed Huddersfield a week earlier, the feeling was that a win would just about keep Barnsley in the top six hunt with their games in hand. Travelling to lowly Orient, after that loss, the opposite feeling was that victory would pretty much finish off any lingering concerns about whether the Reds could be dragged into a relegation fight.
This win left them 13th, eight points off the top six and nine clear of the bottom four, having won two of their last three.
Ridiculously good or bad runs could still leave them in the scrap at either end of the table but where they are right now is an inconsistent side who are likely to be mathematically out of both battles by the final few games of the season. They just need to focus on producing as many days like this one as they can before May while developing individually and collectively into a side that can compete further up the table next season.
REDS DESERVE WIN WITH IMPRESSIVE SECOND HALF
The last time Barnsley won at Brisbane Road was in 1982, five years before McGoldrick was born. That was also a 3-1 success with the winner coming from Ian Banks while the only other victories at Orient in 30 visits came in the 1920s.
The Os started the day in 20th and finished it in 21st, so inside the relegation zone. Barnsley were slightly second best in the first half, opening the scoring against the run of play after a slow start then conceding an equaliser plus other chances and only looking likely to attack when given the ball by their hosts in dangerous areas.
Once they upped their intensity after the break, they began to take better advantage of those home errors and soon went 3-1 up. When at their best, they had more purpose, drive and quality than their struggling hosts.
Last year, Barnsley were 3-1 up at Orient midway through the second half – in Hourihane’s first game as permanent head coach – and lost 4-3 with three goals conceded in six minutes. This time, they were against a far worse Os side than those play-off finalists, but they also saw the game out in a much more clinical and professional manner - something they have previously struggled with so it was a big step forward.
The Reds had only 35 per cent of the ball but, throughout the game, used it better than their hosts. Barnsley had 20 touches in the opponents’ box compared to Orient’s 32.
Orient were very young, with nine of their starters 25 or younger. Barnsley had six starters older than 25 - including match-winner McGoldrick.
DEFENDING BETTER OTHER THAN GOAL
This was a meeting of League One clubs with the worst defensive records at the start of the game, with Orient conceding 53 and Barnsley 52. Both sides are clearly weak at the back but it was a case of which team could make the fewest mistakes and be the more solid.
That was unquestionably Barnsley as, aside from conceding a poor leveller which meant their run without a clean sheet stretched to 17 games, they produced one of their better defensive performances in recent times.
Conor Hourihane did not select Jack Shepherd for a league game for the first time as head coach. After being sent off on the opening day and missing one game, the centre-back played the next 28 but mistakes had crept into his game recently.
In came Mael de Gevigney for his first start since the loss at Liverpool in the FA Cup. The Frenchman performed well alongside equally impressive Eoghan O’Connell, who moved to the left centre-back role. They kept Orient’s 16-goal top-scorer Dom Ballard quiet. There were also solid full-back displays from Tennai Watson - who replaced Georgie Gent on the left – and Corey O’Keeffe who recovered from a painful early collision with some advertising hoardings. Goalkeeper Owen Goodman was at fault for Orient’s goal and looked vulnerable from crosses but made a good full-length save at 3-1.
Jono Bland returned to the 11 – in place of Scott Banks who was dropped for the first time at Barnsley – and grew into the game alongside captain Luca Connell in defensive midfield.
Adam Phillips played on the right and registered his fourth league assist of the season, before left-winger Reyes Cleary claimed his 11th.
The only real blemish on the day was Patrick Kelly picking up a calf injury. He looked worried when he came off and we must hope it does not impact his ability to play a part in Barnsley’s run-in or Northern Ireland’s World Cup play-off with Italy at the end of March. He was replaced by Vimal Yoganathan who made an immediate impact, winning the ball regularly including for the third goal.
