10th April 1981

Cooper ends Nute cracker

Barnsley 1, Exeter 0

EXETER'S third-string goalkeeper Steve Nute, 18, held out until the 75th-minute against over-eager Barnsley. He was finally beaten by a Neil Cooper header, which puts Norman Hunter's team third in the Third Division.

Match Report 2
from the Star Green 'un.
(Sheffield 11th April 1981)

Hunter's men have lift-off!

Trevor Lovett with Barnsley

THE American space shuttle may have stayed on the ground yesterday, but at the Oakwell launch pad in South Yorkshire, Barnsley took off towards higher spheres on the course set them by their down-to-earth manager Norman Hunter.

He had insisted that in the five remaining matches, the Reds had to pick up both points at home and one from each of their two away games.. That done, ETA in Division Two would be May 2nd.

After some major readjustments like the dropping of leading scorer Ronnie Glavin, fellow midfielder Mike Lester, and recalls after injuries of skipper Martin Chambers and player-coach lan Evans and Stewart Barrowclough - there was an almighty blast off within ten seconds and Barnsley were on their way.

Best save

lan Banks smacked in a 25 yarder, while the echoes of Joe Worrall's starting whistle were still ringing round the ground, but Exeter's young Steve Nute, who had a nightmare of a game at Huddersfield in midweek, where he saw five shoot past him, was this time alert and made the best save of the game. After that it was all systems go. Barnsley poured forward in strength and depth. Back was the fight, the determination, the team spirit that made them the most feared team in the Third Division during that remarkable run of 20 League games without defeat. At the heart of the defence, Mick McCarthy was again at his majestic best and, along with Evans fed out the threat of the League's leading scorer. Tony Kellow. But it was in midfield and up front that were revitalised. Cooper, playing in the shirt normally worn by his fellow Scot, Glavin, was superb and with 18 minutes to go proved Hunter's judgment with the match-winner, a coolly-taken header after Derrick Barker with his best performance of the season, had done the spadework.
Outstanding
Ray McHale and lan Banks matched Cooper's output and Trevor Aylott, who hit the foot of the post minutes before the goal, was a man with a mission. But probably the outstanding feature of the performance was the repeated "skinning" of the Exeter defence by Barrowclough, who had been dropped in midweek after a run of disappointing displays since returning to Oakwell for £50,000 from Bristol Rovers.

Bates heavily reliant on their defence, afforded him the honour of two man, and in some cases, a three man guard of honour, but he still managed to play havoc and could, in the closing stages, have got his Oakwell goal scoring sequence off the mark.

Goal: Parker (72 min) for Barnsley 

Attendance: 11,445.

Star player: STEWART BARROWCLOUGH "one of many."


Girls' match

Barnsley's Oakwell ground is the venue for a charity match. featuring Barnsley Hospital Nurses and Barnsley Girls Youth tonight.

It starts at 6.40 p.m., before the Barnsley Exeter game. Ref is Johnny Kennedy and proceeds are for the International Year of Disabled People fund and Barnsley Hospital Comforts Fund.