Neill Collins could not fault Barnsley after win over Shrewsbury

Posted Wednesday, October 25, 2023 by PA

Barnsley head coach Neill Collins praised his side’s performance as they comfortably defeated Shrewsbury 3-0 at Oakwell.

Herbie Kane and Callum Styles provided first-half goals before Devante Cole added the third with 15 minutes to play.

Collins said: “Of course you want the three points but I think we’re still at the stage where the performance is really important and I thought we got both tonight.

“Credit to the players, we asked them to do both sides of the game because we knew Shrewsbury were a real threat; they beat Derby at the weekend and could have scored more goals.”

Barnsley were handed their first penalty at Oakwell for over two years.

Collins said: “It’s so strange for a team that for the last 70 games has been near the top of the league.

“I thought we got the type of penalty tonight that we’ve been getting against us and Herbie (Kane) stepped up and put it in the net, so it’s good for the fans to see that.”

On his side’s second goal, Collins said: “It’s an excellent goal, I thought Devante’s selflessness to put it on a plate for Callum Styles was great and obviously getting the second goal puts you in a good position at home.”

Shrewsbury head coach Matt Taylor was not happy with the penalty decision.

He said: “They’ve scored from a penalty which, in my opinion and I would say all the people here tonight supporting us would say, wasn’t a penalty.

“I don’t quite understand what you’re meant to do if your arm’s by your side and the ball is smashed at you from five yards away. I’m at a loss as to what you’re meant to do with that.

“After what I felt was a good start, we obviously concede that penalty and then we didn’t get a penalty, which I’m amazed with. And what happens, they score from a counter-attack.

“I think the reason we lost the game is because when we had really good opportunities, especially in the second half, we didn’t take them.

“That is the difference between what I think is the top, the middle and the bottom of this league.

“You see they have one opportunity in the second half from a counter-attack and their centre-forward scores. It’s a difficult one to take especially after the high of Saturday.

“We changed a couple of things at half-time to try and get more control of the game, I felt that worked. If we’d have scored at that point we’d have gone on I think.”