Barnsley 3-2 Sheffield United: Tykes boost survival hopes

Barnsley gave their survival chances a huge boost with a 3-2 over South Yorkshire rivals Sheffield United at Oakwell.

Barnsley struck first through Gary Gardner before goals for the Blades from John Fleck and Leon Clarke put the visitors in front by midway through the second half.

However, the game was far from over as Oliver McBurnie levelled for the home side before Tom Bradshaw headed in a dramatic 88th-minute winner.

The win for Barnsley strengthens their hopes of staying in the Sky Bet Championship and was a first home success for head coach Jose Morais.

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The result provided bitter disappointment for opposite number Chris Wilder, however, as the Blades missed an opportunity to keep pressure on the teams in the play-off positions.

Barnsley midfielder George Moncur had the first effort on goal, rattling the crossbar from a short corner.

It was relegation-threatened Barnsley who struck the opener too. Moncur delivered a low corner that was cleared to the edge of the box and lurking was Gardner, who drove the ball first time into the top right of the net.

Barnsley had two great chances to double their lead. Kieffer Moore took the ball past United goalkeeper Simon Moore but saw his shot blocked before Lloyd Isgrove stole the ball on the halfway line and burst forward, finding Moncur in space, but a slip just before his shot meant it was comfortable for Moore.

United had started to find their flow and were dominating after the break and Fleck put the scores level after 57 minutes. Just outside the box, he got past Brad Potts and rifled the ball into the back of the net, leaving Adam Davies with no chance.

The Blades then went ahead through top scorer Clarke. Davies had done well to deny him in a one-on-one situation but chaos ensued with both himself and Adam Jackson failing to clear. Clarke took advantage of the uncertainty to put United 2-1 up in front of the travelling fans.

Going behind seemed to rejuvenate Barnsley, along with the introduction of Adam Hammill, who made an immediate impact. The 30-year-old winger cut inside and tried his luck on his left foot and Moore could not hold the shot, allowing McBurnie to poke in his seventh goal for the club.

With time running out, Moore's drilled cross then found Bradshaw at the back post and the Welsh striker made no mistake in front of the Kop end to secure all three points.

The managers

Jose Morais: "I wanted to give the smile to the people since long ago and I was holding the smile the whole time. I'm happy to be here today, that we won and this is the smile I have every day. I wanted to say that we were trying to find reasons we couldn't do it before, and this was the work we have been doing since we've arrived here.

"The work was to try to find the belief in themselves and the belief from themselves in the team quality, the team capacity, besides the belief they have in their own qualities. It has been improving. This is what they showed today, that everything is possible when we really are committed to achieve and we trust each other to be able to turn around difficulties into something positive.

Chris Wilder: "I've got to say, the two teams, one wanting to stay in the division and the other wanting to get out of the division. I thought the team who wanted to stay in the division were better in the first half.

"Knowing what my team's about, we got into them a bit at half-time, made a couple of changes and then got into our stride, got into our rhythm, built pressure and built momentum. From then we took the game away from the opposition and I've got to say from 2-1, we should go to 3-1 and 4-1. But yet again, boring everybody that interviews me after every game, it's the clinical bit."

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