Rougier 21

The day after my trip to see Rochdale v Southend, Al and I took a scenic trip over the Penines to go and see City take on Barnsley.  The match was unusually taking place on a Sunday, untelevised, due to a Miners March through the town the previous day. The match was huge for City fans.  City were third in the League 1 table with just 2 games to go.  Second placed QPR had won their game in hand.  Anything less than a win from City would hand promotion to them.  A win would see the promotion race go down to the last day, leaving City with a home game versus Blackpool and QPR with a very tricky away match at Sheffield Wednesday.   We opted to park up on a slip road just off the main route into the town, mainly for ease of getaway.  Being a Sunday, the roads were pretty quiet and parking was easy.   The ground was impressively large and the away end seemed enormous.  Three sides of the ground had been redeveloped in recent years.  The fourth side being a more traditional, bank affair. Al and I helped ourselves to the obligatory meat and potatoe pie before picking our seat in the stand.  For such an important match City had a very good following and the away support made a lot of noise, singing "The Barnsley Family" much to Al's amusement! City, wearing an all yellow ensemble that they had tried at Harrogate Railway earlier in the season, took a 1-0 lead with Tony Rougier jinking in and out of the Barnsley defence.  He should have made the game safe later on but blasted over.  We nervously held on to record the win and take the promotion bid to the last day.  A happy Al and myself left clapping along to "The Barnsley Family...doo-doo-doo-do!"  

Barnsley Bristol City Goals : 0 1 Possession : 52% 48% Shots On Target : 5 6 Shots Off Target : 2 4 Corners : 4 6 Fouls : 17 17 Most Fouls : Betsy (3) Peacock (3) Yellow Cards : 2 1 Red Cards : Kay 85 Scorers : Rougier 21