A last-minute strike from Marcus Tudgay gave Barnsley a 2-1 win against Millwall and ended their dismal 11-match winless run.
Barnsley’s brave and determined performance deserved the result they desperately needed, although they were giving a helping hand by notorious referee Trevor Kettle, who sent off Lions full-back Adam Smith after his challenge with David Perkins mid-way through the second half.
That was Kettle’s second glaring error of the day after earlier giving Millwall a first half penalty when Scott Wiseman was adjudged to have pulled down Darius Henderson in the penalty area. The nearby linesman didn’t give a foul but Kettle hesitated and then pointed to the spot.
Thankfully for the Reds, former Sheffield United man Henderson blazed his penalty over the bar and a few moments later, Stephen Dawson gave the visitors a surprise lead when goalkeeper David Forde could only parry Chris Dagnall’s long-range effort into the midfielder’s path.
The Reds seemed comfortable at 1-0 but the sending off seemed to spur on the hostile home crowd and Kenny Jackett’s men responded with a flurry of chances and long punts into the box.
They got their reward ten minutes from time when John Stones – who played brilliantly at centre-half when Martin Cranie went off injured and was replaced by Wiseman – gifted the hosts a goal with a sloppy error. Liam Trotter flicked the ball on to West Brom loanee Chris Wood, and the in-form Kiwi striker, who had an unsuccessful loan spell at Barnsley two season ago, slotted past Luke Steele.
At that point, play-off contenders Millwall pushed for a winner but as they did, they left space at the back and with seconds on the clock, Scott Golbourne threaded a fine through-ball to Marcus Tudgay who delicately chipped the ball over Forde to give Barnsley the points.
