Analysis of Barnsley's 0-0 draw at Port Vale on Tuesday evening. Adam Phillips missed a penalty on the hour-mark.

FRUSTRATING NIGHT AS REDS HELD BY BOTTOM CLUB

IT PROBABLY sums up Conor Hourihane’s first full season in management that, on the night his side finally ended their club record 26-game run without a clean sheet and won a first league penalty in 33 matches, he was still left disappointed that the wasteful Reds did not beat League One’s bottom side.

Like a new captain on a leaky vessel, the Barnsley head coach has been trying to plug one hole only to find another opens up, leaving his side marooned in mid-table.

It has been a positive week in some ways, taking four points having not won in six and moving well clear of the relegation fight, but they were playing Rotherham who were relegated in midweek and Vale who could join them at the weekend.

The run-in now is much tougher as, although they still visit another League Two-bound team in Northampton, the other four remaining opponents are all in the promotion hunt – starting with an all-Yorkshire clash on Saturday with Bradford who will be backed by a full away end. Several more wins would take the edge off what has been a tough season at times and allow them to go into another important summer with some cheer.

Their defence will be tested a lot more while they will need to be far better in front of goal than on Tuesday when Adam Phillips’ penalty miss was one of a number of big chances they spurned.

Barnsley have failed to score in three of their last five games, having only done so three times in the previous 19.

The Reds have played bottom club Port Vale three times this season, twice in the league and once in the EFL Trophy, and not scored.

They currently have eight points from seven games against the bottom four, with the Northampton game to come.

POOR GAME BUT REDS HAVE ENOUGH CHANCES TO WIN EASILY

A side heading for League Two hosting a team in the mid-table wilderness – this was always likely to be a poor game, even before you factor in the awful weather and poor pitch.

Vale were 16 points off safety and the lowest scorers in the division with 30 goals but they had beaten Rotherham and Bolton in their previous two home games, while they had not played at the weekend.

There were some bizarre moments like when Vale thought the referee had given a foul against them so stopped playing but he hadn’t and the ball trickled slowly out for a throw-in with no one moving, or when Barnsley sent everyone forward for a late free-kick and Corey O’Keeffe passed it straight to the first defender.

The first half was particularly bad. Barnsley’s long balls to Tom Bradshaw were not really working and, with O'Keeffe playing as the right winger when the Reds had the ball, and Phillips going infield to join Patrick Kelly and Vimal Yoganathan, it was very congested in a scrappy midfield battle.

Vale had their only good spell of the game in the opening ten minutes of the second half – having changed their attack at the break – and should have scored. But Barnsley got a penalty against the run of play and, even though it was missed by Phillips, they were on top for the rest of the game.

Reyes Cleary – who had his best game for weeks and set up four good chances with crosses from the left – and captain Luca Connell made a good impact from the bench, with Hourihane saying those two are good enough to start for any League One side.

The Reds created five clear chances in the last 15 minutes.

The lack of striker depth was costly again as, with top-scorer David McGoldrick injured and Hourihane reluctant to bring youngster Leo Farrell off the bench, Bradshaw was Barnsley’s only forward and it was not his night in front of goal. He could easily have had a hat-trick late on to add to his weekend brace.

PHILLIPS DENIED BY INSPIRED FORMER TEAM-MATE

Barnsley were awarded a spot-kick on the hour-mark.

It was Barnsley’s first league penalty since Phillips converted against Reading on September 13, 214 days earlier.

Captain Phillips could have made it double figures for goals for the fourth straight season but saw his spot-kick impressively kept out by Joe Gauci who was a Reds team-mate of his last season.

Phillips had scored his previous five penalties during games, having missed in the FA Cup shoot-out against Bristol Rovers last season, while the only other he missed in the league saw him net the rebound at Forest Green in 2023.

The penalty saw Kelly run onto a long ball down the left by Josh Earl, cut inside and play in Yoganathan who burst down the left of the area and was tripped by Jordan Gabriel. It was a similar incident to the trips on Kelly at Huddersfield and O’Keeffe at Cardiff but, this time, the referee pointed to the spot.

Kelly celebrated the penalty towards the away end as if the Reds had scored, a tough lesson for the young midfielder.

Gauci was Vale’s man of the match, making a series of excellent saves.

RECORD-BREAKING CLEAN SHEET WAIT ENDS

It had been more than four months since Barnsley kept a clean sheet, in a 1-0 win at Peterborough in the FA Cup on December 6.

Their only other shut-outs this season were at Peterborough in the league in August and at home to Luton in the league in November.

The Reds have not conceded from open play in two matches against lowly teams, with Rotherham’s goal on Saturday being a disputed penalty in the final seconds.

Barnsley seemed to have clear plan against long balls in the tough conditions – they would just take a no nonsense approach even if it meant heading or clearing straight out for a set piece which they backed themselves to defend.

Mael de Gevigney missed the game due to issues with the head wound he picked up at Burton earlier in the month, with Marc Roberts replacing him in the only change to the team that won at Rotherham. It was Roberts’ first start since the 3-3 draw with Wimbledon on Valentine’s Day and the thinking was that Vale’s direct style and the challenge of their targetman Jayden Stockley suited the veteran. Stockley barely made any impact then was replaced at the break by Dejaune Brown, a much faster forward who had caused major problems at Oakwell in September. He missed a huge chance to open the scoring minutes after the break but was then very quiet as Vale could barely get the ball forward in the final half an hour.

Earl and O’Keeffe were generally solid at full-back as was Roberts’ centre-back partner Eoghan O’Connell while goalkeeper Owen Goodman only had one routine save to make.

YOGANATHAN BARNSLEY’S BEST PLAYER ON THE NIGHT

Yoganathan was Barnsley’s best player. The midfielder won plenty of loose balls and had an urgency and creativity few others possessed on the night, also making some important blocks in his box. The 20-year-old is still raw but is having a strong end to the season, starting eight of the last nine games.

Hourihane kept faith in his very young midfield trio, which also included Kelly and Jono Bland, while Connell was on the bench having rejoined training the previous day after missing Saturday’s match for the birth of his new baby.

They had another decent day as a unit, although Bland was lucky when he lost the ball in the build-up to Brown’s big chance. Scott Banks’ crossing was poor and he was outperformed by replacement Cleary who changed the game and surely deserves a recall against Bradford.