Barnsley's truly wretched home season finished in horrendous fashion as they suffered defeat at Oakwell to a Shrewsbury team who will finish bottom of League One this season, had failed to win any of their previous 15 league games and had won only two away league games all season.
It means Barnsley finish with just six league wins at Oakwell this season - it is their lowest number of home wins in a third tier season since 1971-1972 when they also only won six.
The Shrews victory was the ninth time the Oakwell faithful have seen their team lose in League One this season, the most home league defeats in the third tier since 1964-1965 (10)
Shrewsbury's goals came via a brace from John Marquis, the fifth player to net a double against Barnsley at Oakwell this season after Charlton's Luke Berry, Reading's Sam Smith, Birmingham's Jay Stansfield and Blackpool's Sonny Carey.
There has now been a brace scored in four of Barnsley’s last five matches.
This result means Barnsley have won only one of their last 11 league games - a victory that earnt Conor Hourihane the manager's job on a permanent basis.
This game was played on the 28th anniversary of arguably Barnsley's greatest game - the 2-0 victory over Bradford which earned them their one and only season in England's top flight, this is the fifth time they have played on this date since that famous day in 1997 and they have now lost each of the last three (in 2014, 2022 and 2025 - winning in 2003 and 2008)
Jon Russell's consolation was his tenth goal of the season, the first time he has ever reached double figures in a season in his career.
He is the first Barnsley player to score in three successive league games at Oakwell since Devante Cole in January 2024.
This was the 16th Barnsley match to finish 2-1 this season (all competitions) meaning 29% of their matches have finished this way in 2024-2025.
Barnsley have now gone 13 league games without a clean sheet, their longest run since going 14 league games without a shutout between November 2020 and January 2021 in the Championship.
Marquis’ brace also means Barnsley have conceded more than 70 league goals for the first time since they finished rock bottom of the Championship in 2021-2022 – 73 goals conceded and is their highest amount in the third tier since 1964-1965 when they conceded 90 and finished bottom of the league, falling into the bottom division.
This was the first Barnsley game in eight that they did not have a player booked.
This was Barnsley’s first defeat against Shrewsbury for seven meetings, ending a run of five wins and a draw.
Four of the last 10 meetings have now finished 2-1.
Barnsley have won nine of the last 11 Oakwell meetings with the two they haven’t both now finishing 2-1 to the Shrews.
The other occasion occurred in 2015 and are two of only three wins the Shrews have ever achieved at Oakwell – also winning 3-1 in 1971.
Four of the last five Oakwell meetings have finished 2-1 and six of the last eight.
Despite losing Barnsley had 25 shots, their most in a league game at Oakwell this season.
Barnsley Team:
18. Joe Gauci
30. Jonathan Bland
6. Mael de Gevigney
4. Marc Roberts
32. Josh Earl
20. Dexter Limbikisa
8. Adam Phillips
48. Luca Connell
3. Jon Russell
2. Barry Cotter
40. Davis Keillor-Dunn
Substitutes:
36. Max Watters (for Lembikisa 45)
50. Kelechi Nwakali (for Connell 64)
Unused Substitutes:
51. Kieran Flavell, 29. Connor Barratt, 21. Conor McCarthy, 33. Clement Rodrigues, 31. Kieran Graham.
Shrewsbury Team:
31. Jamal Blackman
6. Josh Feeney
22. Aristote Nsiala
23. George Nurse
2. Luca Hoole
17. Alex Gilliead
8. Harrison Biggins
3. Mal Benning
27. John Marquis
24. Callum Stewart
9. George Lloyd
Substitutions:
14. Taylor Perry (for Stewart 79)
11. Vadaine Oliver (for Lloyd 84)
16. Aaron Pierre (for Nurse 90+2)
Unused Substitutes:
13. Joe Young, 38. Isaac England, 36. Jack Loughran, 18. Ricardo Dinanga.
Sky Bet League One Results – Saturday 26th April 2025
Bristol Rovers (22nd) 0-2 Reading (7th)
Wing 67
Campbell 90+4
BARNSLEY (12th) 1-2 Shrewsbury Town (24th)
Marquis 18
Marquis 67
Russell 78
Leyton Orient (6th) 1-0 Wycombe Wanderers (4th)
Williams 66
Burton Albion(20th) 2-1 Cambridge United (23rd)
Bodvarsson 48
Kachunga 84
Williams 90+3
Crawley Town (21st) 3-0 Northampton Town (18th)
Hepburn-Murphy 39
Kelly 66
Doyle 88
Exeter City (15th) 3-1 Huddersfield Town (10th)
Koroma 20
Niskanen 39
McMillan 56
Oluwabori 90+1
Peterborough United (17th) 1-1 Bolton Wanderers (8th)
Mothersille pen 20
Forino 33
Stockport County (3rd) 3-2 Lincoln City (11th)
House 24
Ring 43
Fevrier 48
Collar 78
Olaofe 81
Wigan Athletic (16th) 1-1 Blackpool (9th)
Mellish 3
Evans pen 74
Wrexham (2nd) 3-0 Charlton Athletic (5th)
Rathbone 15
Smith 18
Smith 81
Barnsley lie in 12th place in Sky Bet League One with 58 points from 45 games. We are 17 points off the Play-Offs, 31 points off the Automatic Promotion Places, 47 points off First Place and 15 points above the Relegation Zone.
Up to 27/4/25
Next Up:
On The Road:
Sky Bet League One Matchday Forty Six: Reading v Barnsley, Saturday 3rd May 2025. Kick Off: 3pm
At Oakwell:
TBC