Andre Ayew strikes to give stubborn Swansea slender lead at boisterous Barnsley

[ASFN Admin]

All problems are relative. This time last year, Barnsley were contemplating relegation to League One, so the task of overturning a single goal deficit to put them within a game of reaching the Premier League is far from the most daunting of prospects. The odds, and history, may be against them, but after the remarkable season they have enjoyed in their climb from fourth bottom to a fifth-place finish, it would be unwise to write them off at this stage. Swansea go into the second-leg of this breathless play-off semi-final as favourites thanks to Andre Ayew's 18th goal of the season, but there remains plenty of life in this compelling tie. The Welsh side are now unbeaten in 13 games against their play-off opponents, stretching back 15 years. While their hopes of avoiding a second successive semi-final exit might not have been high after winning just three of their final 11 Championship matches, their dogged Oakwell display bodes well for their chances of progression when the sides reconvene on Saturday. Ayew injected a rare piece of top-flight quality to give the visitors a 39th-minute advantage which was neither with or against the run of play in a contest which swirled rather than ebbed or flowed. Reacting to a Kyle Naughton flick into the box, the forward deftly shifted the ball onto his left foot before curling his shot into the bottom corner from 12 yards to momentarily silence a wonderfully boisterous support numbering 4,500, whose relentless backing provided not just a 12th man to Valerien Ismael's side, but probably a 13th as well. It looked like the home crowd would get what they had come to see, but Swansea were stubborn and organised to withstand the second-half onslaught, where many of the problems they faced stemmed from their own attacking corners and the threat posed by the hosts on the counter-attack. Substitute Carlton Morris provided fresh attacking impetus, and it took a combination of defender Marc Guehi and keeper Freddie Woodman to deny Callum Brittain's close-range effort on the line. Woodman saved Alex Mowatt's goal-bound free-kick and the bar came to the rescue in stoppage time from a Morris flick as they sealed a third clean sheet of the season against Valerien's side. A fourth at the weekend will see them book their place at Wembley.

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