Source: Northern_Echo
Barnsley 2 Middlesbrough 0
Barnsley 2 Middlesbrough 0[LNB] GORDON Strachan was left bemoaning missed chances and poor passing after Middlesbrough's disappointing start to the season continued with a 2-0 defeat at Barnsley.[LNB] Goals in either half from Jason Shackell and Adam Hammill condemned Boro to defeat and left Strachan's side still looking for their first away win of the season.[LNB] Last week, Boro managed to pick up their first three points of the campaign, albeit with an ugly performance. This week, it was the other way round.[LNB] Boro's performance against Barnsley was much better but it was a frustrating case of not putting away chances that cost the Teessiders this match.[LNB] It was an exciting game,'' Strachan said.[LNB] We played a dreadful game last week and won 1-0, then we played a good game on Tuesday, with lots of chances, and got nothing, and again we made a lot of good chances today, so we are disappointed not to get anything.[LNB] We had the better start but they scored the goal at the right time. They've got some dogged and determined players and they played well but we made enough chances to get something from it.[LNB] We didn't move the ball well, we are nowhere near the passing we want.[LNB] There's no doubt that the longer you keep the ball the better, but the players gave it a right good shot and you can't complain about that.[LNB] Whatever you think about football, the ability to pass the ball to each other is a priceless asset and at the moment we are not doing that well, I spotted that in the second half in particular.[LNB] After a scrappy opening few minutes from both teams, the away side settled better and grew in confidence.[LNB] The Teessiders have been working on getting the ball out wide in training and every time the ball was picked up in midfield, Boro looked to play the ball to wide men Nicky Bailey and Tarmo Kink.[LNB] That practice nearly paid off as Boro almost took the lead in the 14th minute when a Barry Robson free-kick from the right was met by Scott Mc- Donald, but his powerful header crashed off Luke Steele's left-hand post and bounced away from danger.[LNB] Barnsley could only manage to carve out half chances, with Adam Hammill's tame shot easily collected by Jason Steele and a dangerous Jay McEveley cross evading everyone in the box.[LNB] Despite the away side looking the most likely to break the deadlock, the visitors were made to pay for earlier missed chances in the 28th minute.[LNB] A routine left-sided corner from Kieran Trippier was floated to the back post and met by defender Shackell, who rose above everyone to head the ball past Steele in the Boro goal.[LNB] The goal brought the home side momentum and Mark Robbins' side were unlucky not to double their lead minutes later when forward Govan Lovre saw his low shot saved well by Steele.[LNB] Boro refused to lie down and had a great chance to equalise when Julio Arca's well-weighted ball over the top was met by Kris Boyd, but his attempted lob couldn't beat the Barnsley keeper.[LNB] After his difficult start to life in the Championship, Boyd seems to be growing in confidence and minutes after his first chance, he had another opportunity to equalise when he outmuscled defender Stephen Foster to turn and shoot, but his right-footed strike deflected out for a corner.[LNB] The second half brought more frustration for Boro, with two successive longrange Kink shots going close.[LNB] Strachan had switched Kink across to the right flank at the beginning of the second half and before hobbling off injured on 65 minutes, the Estonian was causing the home side problems with his tricky runs.[LNB] Robson was the next to go extremely close for Boro, his right-sided free-kick from 25 yards curling over the wall, but in-form Steele again denied the visitors.[LNB] Despite Boro efforts to draw level, the game was finally put beyond Strachan's side in the fifth minute of added time when Hammill scored Barnsleys second.[LNB] The 22-year-old capped off an impressive performance when he picked up the ball in his own half and shimmied past three Boro players before slotting the ball past Steele.[LNB] Despite an improved performance, the 1,500 travelling Boro fans booed the team off at the end of both halves.[LNB] Goals: 1-0: Shackell (28, left-sided corner headed in at the back post) 2-0: Hammill (90, mazy run past three defenders finished off by a low shot) Bookings: Doyle (82, foul); McDonald (72, dissent); Wheater (foul, 90) Referee: Keith Hill (Hertfordshire) Had a pretty quiet came until a few fouls in the second half resulted in cards 7 Attendance: 11,767 Entertainment: [LNB] BARNSLEY (4-4-2): Steele 6; Hassell 6, Foster 6, McEveley 6, Shackell 7 (O'Brien 59, 6), Hassell 6; Trippier 7 (Butterfield 90), Lovre 7, Colace 6, Arismendi 6 (Doyle 79); Hammill 7, Gray 7. Subs (not used): Preece (gk); Devaney, Hume, Neumann.[LNB] MIDDLESBROUGH (4-4-2): 6 Steele: Made a few good saves but could do little about both goals; 4 Bates: Found it tough against Hammill's tricky runs, the winger was arguably the best player on the pitch. 6 Wheater: At times, found it tough to keep hold of Gray but didn't do much wrong 5 McManus: Could have done better for the first goal after being out-jumped by Shackell 5 Kilgallon: Fairly decent display at left-back and has looked solid since his loan move from Sunderland; 6 Kink: Quiet first-half but was much more influential when moved to right side in second until he limped off. 7 ROBSON: Battled hard for his side, provided good deliveries and was unlucky not to score from a free-kick. 4 Bailey: Struggled with passing and couldn't find a way past McEveley. 6 Arca: Picked out some lovely passes, proving why Strachan brought him back into the side; 5 McDonald: Endured a frustrating afternoon, which was capped off with a booking for dissent. 6 Boyd: He is growing with every performance but failed to take some important chances.[LNB] Subs: Halliday (for Kink 66): Failed to make any real impact as Boro chased the game 5 Williams (Kilgallon 80) (not used): Coyne (gk); Hoyte, Smallwood, Miller, Lita.[LNB] MAN OF THE MATCH BARRY Robson never stopped running for his side and created Boro's best chance[LNB]
