If Bad Luck Comes In Threes...

[greenun]

Fate conspired to polarise Louis Carey and Barnsley's Marc Richard's effect on Saturday's match at Oakwell. If bad luck comes in threes, then there must surely be a universal opposite, as Richards happily discovered.

After blocking the Bristolian's goal-bound shot with his hands, after 5 minutes, the Tyke's in-form forward saw his innocuous shot take a wicked deflection off Matt Heywood for the homesters opener, then benefit from the penalty decision that saw Carey depart the field late on.

By comparison, Carey was cursed. The increasingly erratic refereeing by Nigel Miller in City's favour caused frequent uproar amongst the natives. I believe he felt pressured into dismissing City's veteran, and appear oblivious to an obvious foul by Wright, before the roles were reversed in Barnsley's favour.

Nevertheless, it was City's toothlessness in the final third of the field that lost them this match. Why Gary Johnson picked a 19 year-old who clearly lacked match fitness, over the enigmatic prodigal, Marcus Stewart is anyone's guess. When City got behind a Barnsley side that were happy to defend for long periods, there was simply no quality to provide a finish. If Brooker misses the next few games the omens don't look good. 'Emergency Loans' to start next Wednesday? Its definitely the former right now.

Player ratings:

Steve Phillips - 7 : A welcome return for the ace shot-stopper, who pleasingly dominated his area.

Jamie Smith - 6 : Linked up well with Cotterill early-on, but faded in the second half.

Louis Carey - 6 : His only error was allowing Richards to beat him easily before scoring the opener.

Craig Woodman - 5 : Too many long balls and ineffective going forward made for a flat performance.

Scott Murray - 5 : An anonymous performance on the left flank, was compounded by his booking for a comical dive

Cole Skuse - 6 : Closed down his opponents with great tenacity, but soured matters with calamitous shooting and poor forward play.

Alex Russell - 6 : The midfield artisan failed to master the marionets, with blunt foward passes that were easily repelled

Dave Cotterill - 6 : Better times lie ahead, but this was another undercooked display from the raw teenager

Calvin Andrew - 6 : Although he tried hard, it was a forgettable debut from the loanee who unsurprisingly lacked match sharpness

Bas Savage - 7 : Great forward runs and ball control, but, oh, the humanity! Please score some goals?

STAR MAN

Matt Heywood - 8 : Our central defensive collussus was again, solid, dependable and defended well up the pitch. He was dreadfully unlucky for the first goal.

Subs:

Stewart - 6

Brown - 6