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Barnsley 3 Leeds Utd 2: Howard enjoys generosity of Leeds

Dan Murphy
Sunday 05 November 2006 01:00 GMT
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Barnsley moved above Leeds United at the foot of the Championship yesterday after an entertaining Yorkshire derby between two teams as inept without the ball as they were enterprising with it.

Perhaps that was only to be expected from the League's two most porous defences but there was also much to admire in the creative work of Barnsley's Martin McIndoe and Leeds' Robbie Blake.

Leeds have now conceded 16 goals in their last four away fixtures. After dominating the first half they fell apart in the second, allowing Barnsley to come from behind and claim their first win in nine games. All three Barnsley goals were eminently preventable from a Leeds perspective.

"There wasn't much in it in the first half but I thought we were by far the better side after that," said Andy Ritchie, Barnsley's manager and a former Leeds player and coach.

Graham Stack's flap at a cross by McIndoe led to the first goal. Martin Devaney was able to control before shooting low into the unguarded net.

Leeds deservedly equalised when Shaun Derry met Blake's corner. Then David Healy's pass fed Eddie Lewis, and his cross set up the classy Blake.

McIndoe's equaliser was explosive - he advanced unchallenged before unleashing a powerful drive into the bottom corner. Yet more substandard defensive work gave Barnsley the winner. This time Brian Howard was the beneficiary. Allowed to work a shooting opportunity from 18 yards, he curled a shot into the far corner.

"We did extremely well in the first half but in the second half there were too many individual mistakes," Dennis Wise, the Leeds manager, said. "There are a lot of things wrong at the club but we know what has to be done. There will be some transfer movement in the near future because the current players are not doing what I want them to."

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