Oldham Athletic AFC 1 - 3 Barnsley: Johnson joy on Oldham return

Posted Sunday, March 15, 2015 by PA

Barnsley boss Lee Johnson made a winning return to his former club as the Tykes earned a 3-1 victory at Oldham, who ended the game with 10 men.

Less than a month after quitting Oldham for Oakwell, Johnson got a hostile reception from the Latics fans but saw his play-off chasing team record their sixth consecutive win.

Set-pieces were the key to Barnsley's success, starting after 33 minutes when the hosts failed to clear Conor Hourihane's free-kick and Lewin Nyatanga slammed in the loose ball from eight yards.

Six minutes later, chaotic Oldham defending from a corner led to Carl Winchester's attempted clearance cannoning off Hourihane and flying into the net to double Barnsley's lead.

The Latics pulled one back before half-time as Conor Wilkinson teed up Mike Jones, who turned to drill his shot inside the far post from 12 yards out.

Hourihane clipped the crossbar with a shot in first-half stoppage time, but Wilkinson had two half-chances for Oldham before Barnsley sealed the points after 70 minutes.

Another Hourihane free-kick was misjudged by home keeper Jake Kean and, in the following goalmouth scramble, Nyatanga claimed the visitors' third goal.

Oldham captain Adam Lockwood was sent off in stoppage time for picking up his second yellow card.