Darrell Clarke delighted with Barnsley’s comeback win despite ugly performance

Manager Darrell Clarke was delighted to get back to winning ways as Barnsley claimed a 2-1 League One comeback win at Exeter, but admitted it was the worst they had played throughout their six-match winless run in all competitions.

Exeter were deservedly in front at the break through Josh Magennis’ deflected 13th-minute free-kick, but Barnsley were a different proposition after the break and levelled through Kelechi Nwakali’s superb strike.

Victory was assured nine minutes later when Davis Keillor-Dunn tapped in from close range to end that run, much to the relief of Clarke.

“It’s the worst we have played in the last six games, but we have won the game,” Clarke said.

“We deservedly won the game, in my opinion, because we had better chances, but that first half was not acceptable.

“It shouldn’t take a rocket from me to get us going and so I have mixed emotions. I am really pleased with a win, really pleased with the response of the boys in the second half, but I want more and I demand more.

“There was a lot I didn’t like about our first-half performance, but the boys rectified that a bit in the second half and we take the points.

“Every minute, intensity levels should be right at it, so I need to take a look at why it wasn’t.

“It was a very lethargic first-half performance. The game was very end-to-end and even when we are not at our best, we are still a danger, but I was pleased with the response in the second half and our fans, who came all this way, go home happy.”

Exeter captain Pierce Sweeney was frustrated with the scrappy home defeat which marked his side’s third-straight loss in all competitions.

He said: “It was a frustrating and disappointing afternoon. The first half wasn’t pretty, but we went 1-0 up, scored a really good goal through the big man and we had a couple of half-chances as well.

“We never got going after half-time and it was two poor goals conceded. We need to clear our lines better, clear our box, and we let ourselves down today. We need to sit down and have some good, honest, grown-up conversations.

“I can’t really say what was said at half-time. There was a lot of swearing, a lot of shouting from the manager, from players, player-on-player, so we were 1-0 up at half-time and still not happy with how we are playing and how things are going.

“We set high standards in the changing room and at the football club between the staff and the players and it felt like we weren’t up to our standard in performance, in possession and out of possession especially.

“We need to figure out where we are at and be honest with ourselves because we have been nowhere near good enough in the last four or five league games. We need to regroup quickly and fly into Burton next week.”