Former Bristol Rovers manager Darrell Clarke admitted he was left “angry” by his Barnsley team’s wastefulness in front of goal as the Reds squandered numerous opportunities in their FA Cup second round tie at Oakwell before being knocked out on penalties.
Over the course of 120 minutes, the South Yorkshire outfit produced 30 shots but got just nine on target with Gas goalkeeper Josh Griffiths also producing some outstanding saves.
Barnsley midfielder Adam Phillips then went on to miss the first penalty of the eventual shootout with Griffiths later making a decisive save from Josh Earl after Chris Martin, Ruel Sotiriou, Scott Sinclair and Shaq Forde scored for Rovers.
“The game should be done,” Clarke declared post-match, as quoted by the Yorkshire Post. “Penalties are what they are. We practiced penalties yesterday (Friday), there was no stone unturned to try and win the game. But it’s not the penalties that disappoint me. It’s [having] as much dominance as we had and not capitalising in that final third, that’s why I’m a pretty angry man.
“It is what it is, we tried to freshen it up,” the Barnsley manager added. “The players that started missed a lot of chances, the players that came on missed a lot of chances.
“You try and have Tuesday on your mind but I wanted to go and win the cup tie. We didn’t do it – but we should have done. No one likes hard-luck stories, so we go again.”
Clarke, who took charge at Oakwell in the summer after almost defying the odds to keep Cheltenham Town in League One last season, has been left frustrated with a number of Barnsley’s recent results at home in which chances haven’t been converted at a good enough rate.
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Prior to Saturday, the Tykes’ previous two home matches in League One were a 2-2 draw against Reading, in which they led but had to later find an equaliser in to clinch a point after a 1-0 defeat to Wigan Athletic which they dominated.
Over the course of those three matches, including the penalty defeat to Rovers, Barnsley have produced 70 shots but have gotten 19 on target while scoring just three goals.
“[It was] a very frustrating afternoon for us,” said Clarke. “A lot of dominance with the ball, a lot of chances created, but not doing what we’re supposed to be doing in the final third cost us.
“The result hurts, very much so, because how do we not win the game? The reason we don’t win the game is because we’re not good enough in the final third.”