Darrell Clarke offers sympathies to Steve Bruce after personal tragedy

Posted Sunday, October 20, 2024 by PA

Barnsley boss Darrell Clarke sent his thoughts to Blackpool manager Steve Bruce following the death of his fourth-month-old grandson, which meant he was absent from his side’s 2-1 defeat to the Tykes.

Clarke has previously spoken about the death of his own daughter and was keen to send his best wishes to his opposite number.

“First of all, I want to pass on my condolences to Steve Bruce and the family, it’s so sad,” said Clarke.

“I know how hard it is to lose loved ones. Steve is a good man and I wish his family the best.”

On the field, Barnsley led the encounter after Davis Keillor-Dunn’s 28th-minute opener but Blackpool responded with Oliver Casey equalising midway through the first half.

After riding a wave of Blackpool attacks, Barnsley struck a stoppage-time winner with Marc Roberts’ goal delighting Clarke, ensuring his side claimed the three points in dramatic circumstances.

“I think it comes off his shoulder but it was great to see it drop in the back of the net and was a great reward for our away following today, so it was nice to send them home happy,” he said.

“We’ve had nine or 10 days training with them and I was pleased to see a lot of that work we’ve done on the training ground come to fruition in the game.

“We had to ride a wave from Blackpool but our resilience was brilliant and we had a lot of chances in the last 10 minutes and got the control back in the game.”

Assistant head coach Steve Agnew took the Blackpool side for today’s game with head coach Bruce on compassionate leave.

Agnew first offered his condolences to Bruce’s family, saying: “It has been a really difficult 24 hours and obviously our thoughts are with the gaffer and his family.

“We all send our condolences to him. I spoke to him very briefly yesterday and as you can image it’s a very difficult moment for him.”

Having conceded from both of Barnsley’s only two shots on target in the game, Agnew was frustrated with the result following the sucker-punch winner from Roberts in a game he felt his side had control of.

He said: “To lose any game late on in a game is always disappointing but it was the way it went in. With two or three corners towards the end, we had plenty of height on the pitch so to concede like that was frustrating.

“All the players are bitterly disappointed to concede the way it went in and we walk away with no points.

“In terms of possession I think we had more. Could we have been more of a threat with that at times? Yes, I think we could. All the stats would say it’s a game we certainly shouldn’t have lost.”