Oakwell: Barnsley 1-1 Leicester City

Barnsley 1-1 Leicester City

A first away day for myself and my two sons whilst Grandad Adrian was away on holiday in Wales. This was only my second ever visit to Oakwell with my last visit coming in April 2007 which saw Leicester City beat Barnsley 1-0 in a relegation scrap which kept both sides in The Championship for another season. A strong 5,000 away following made the journey up to South Yorkshire for an early kick off, a decent following considering City's mixed start to their League One campaign with 2 wins, 2 losses and 2 draws under the much criticised Russell Martin. We set off at 9.30am giving ourselves plenty of time for toilet stops which proved to be a wise decision as 45 minutes into the journey, we stopped at Tibshelf services. We continued our journey north through the drizzle up to junction 36 on the M1 before taking the A61 into Barnsley. We parked the car on Waltham Street just off the A61 and only a 10 minute walk (slightly longer if you have short legs!) to Oakwell. My sons have only ever been to the King Power Stadium so it was good for them to see a proper football ground with four sides with old floodlight pylons in each corner which is becoming a rare sight. After showing them around the ground and a photo with Toby the Tyke, we made our way towards the away end through various police and steward checks. I chose seats on the second row in the hope that no one will be stood up in front of us and thankfully that was another wise decision as everyone was stood up behind us. The only problem with being so low down was as the weather changed before kick off, we got caught in the rain. We made our way further up the stand until this brief shower passed before making our way back to our seats which we basked in sunshine for the remainder of the afternoon. Onto the match and we didn't need to wait long for the first goal of the match. Luke Thomas put the ball on a plate for Liam Cullen to score from inside the area after seven minutes. Things went from bad to worse for the home side when Luca Connell was sent off in the 26th minute after referee Sebastian Stockbridge adjudged his challenge on Luke Thomas was reckless. Despite that setback, Barnsley deservedly levelled as Reyes Cleary unleashed a powerful effort into the roof of the net on the 61st minute after a sloppy pass from Warren O'Hora allowed Arley Kay to play the winger through on goal. The Reds defended resolutely and came close to winning it through Patrick Kelly in added time. At full time, the large following of Leicester supporters who made the journey to South Yorkshire booed the players and boss Russell Martin off as they made their way towards the tunnel next to the away stand. Plenty of nice passing during the match by City however their attacking build up was far too slow and a lack of killer instinct in front of goal proved they won't win many matches. The most important stat in football is goals and this is the case at all levels. What may keep Russell Martin in the job for the time being is the off field concerns regarding the future and the sale of Leicester City Football Club. Administration is a strong possibility should the sale not go through... After the match, we made the steady journey back towards our car in the South Yorkshire sun walking down Grove Street before crossing Pontefract Road and walking up Oakwell Lane before crossing Doncaster Road to our car on Waltham Street. A steady journey out of Barnsley down the A61 back towards the M1 Southbound as the boys snored in the back of the car! We arrived back home at around 4.15pm just in time for tea. All in all, result aside, a good first away day for my sons - hopefully the first of many!

Barnsley 0-1 Leicester City

I (Ross) thoroughly enjoyed my trip to Oakwell, the weather was superb and City won which meant 2nd tier safety.
The result at Oakwell together with results elsewhere on this penultimate day of the season saw Leeds United, one of Barnsley’s Yorkshire rivals, relegated to the third tier of English football. This not surprisingly had home fans in good spirits too.
Adrian picked me (Ross) up in Coalville mid-morning for the hour long journey up the M1 to South Yorkshire.
A big police presence was evident as we came off at junction 37, City was bringing several thousand fans and coaches were parked on the motorway bridge awaiting the usual police escorted convoy through the town.
As we travelled by car we had no such issues, parking just off the A61 for a quick getaway following the game.
One of Adrian's work colleagues, Chris (Barnsley fan) had got us cheap tickets in the East Stand with the Barnsley fans and we met Chris and his son at a home fan’s pub, where we enjoyed some good banter washed down with a our cold drinks.
Three sides of Oakwell were re-developed in the 1990's. We sat in the big two tiered East stand which runs the length of the pitch. It was opened in March 1993. The oldest stand is the West stand which is similar to Birmingham City's Main Stand. The stand dates back to 1904 and was made all-seater in the 90's. The Pontefract Road End and the North stand which is where the Away supporters are allocated are both very similar stands at opposite ends of the ground. The re-development of the ground finished in 1999.

Leicester created the better chances in a tight game and scored the only goal, a Matty Fryatt shot deflected home by Tykes defender Neil Austin.
The winning outcome for City meant both sides were celebrating survival at full time, while a few junctions up the motorway, Leeds United’s home defeat to Ipswich Town saw the Yorkshire giants relegated.
Leicester had endured another ordinary season but caretaker manager Nigel Worthington had managed to galvanise the squad and achieved what Milan Mandaric had brought him in for.
We made a decent exit following the game beating out of town the City supporter’s coaches and I was back in Coalville for approx 6:20pm

Barnsley 1-1 Leicester City

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