Neill Collins hails ‘fantastic finish’ as Devante Cole helps Barnsley to victory

Barnsley head coach Neill Collins praised the “fantastic finish” of top scorer Devante Cole that helped his side on their way to a 3-1 League One victory at lowly Reading.

Reading went in front in the fourth minute through Harvey Knibbs, with his ninth goal of the season, but Herbie Kane levelled before the break from a penalty.

Cole gave Barnsley the lead 10 minutes from time with a powerful 25-yard drive – his 12th goal of the campaign – and Max Watters settled the issue in the 87th minute.

“Devante first steadied himself then it was a fantastic finish, especially for all our travelling fans,” Collins said.

“That gave us the opportunity to win the game and then we had the same bit of quality from Fabio Jalo to put the ball across for Max to finish.

“We actually started the game well but then we found ourselves 1-0 down from Reading’s first attack off a set-piece.

“I don’t think that knocked us too much, I think our players looked quite a threat at times.

“But when we got back into the game, when we got our goal, we then probably had our worst spell until half-time. After that, we pushed on well to win the game.

“It was quite open at times but I thought we made use of that really well and got two fantastic goals to win it.

“There was a lot to be pleased with and I’m glad we were able to come from behind and win. It’s something we’ve been threatening to do.

“We’ve come from behind to draw but not quite got it over the line to win. Today we did that.”

Reading remain off the bottom of League One only thanks to a better goal difference than Cheltenham.

Manager Ruben Selles said: “We started well, scored first and then had a chance to score a second through a header from Tyler Bindon.

“Then we conceded a penalty, which was an unfortunate one, so we go in at 1-1 at half-time.

“In the second half, we made a few mistakes – especially with Barnsley’s second goal. We should have defended it better.

“And then in the moments that we try to make substitutions and go for the game, we just let it go to 3-1. We need to continue working on those moments.

“We made a couple of bad decisions. I think we can do better.

“But we still showed that we are competitive and that we can compete against any opponent. We just need to be able to do it for 100 minutes.”