Conor Hourihane hails Barnsley’s courage to hit back for points

Conor Hourihane praised Barnsley’s courage for coming from behind to beat Leyton Orient 3-2 at Oakwell.

The home side opened the scoring in the 10th minute as Patrick Kelly jinked in and out of the O’s defence before playing the ball across to Reyes Cleary.

The 21-year-old, recently named League One’s Young Player of the Month, made no mistake with his finish as he sent a half-volley past Killian Cahill.

It was a moment of madness at the back for the hosts on the half-hour which led to Dom Ballard’s equaliser from the penalty spot.

Adam Phillips’ powerful back pass to Murphy Cooper was too hard for the keeper to control and he was adjudged by referee Simon Mather to have brought down Ollie O’Neill in the box.

O’Neill then gave Orient the lead in the 38th minute as he wrong-footed Cooper from eight yards.

Cleary hit the woodwork at the start of the second half but Barnsley had to wait until the 77th minute for their equaliser when Jon Russell volleyed home from inside the box.

Davis Keillor-Dunn won the game in the 85th minute as he tapped the ball into an empty net after a mix-up at the back.

Hourihane said: “I think half-time came at a good time to let everyone have a little bit of a breather away from the carnage.

“I really felt like the game was there for us in the second half.

“They only got back into it through our mistakes and I’m really proud of how they took that on and really showed courage to come back into the game.”

Cleary scored his fourth league goal and added his fifth and sixth assists of the season.

“He’s such an exciting player – he’s a real threat,” Hourihane added. “He’s always asking questions on how to get better.

“It’s just a credit to him because you put in the work and you dedicate yourself and look what happens.”

Alfie Lloyd thought he had levelled in added time but it was ruled out for a foul on a Barnsley defender.

Orient boss Richie Wellens thought the disallowed goal was unfortunate, and added: “Overall, the attitude, the intensity that we played at was really good.

“We came out in the second half and were scared of getting the third.

“My message throughout my time here has been ‘we don’t drop deep, we’re aggressive’.

“I thought in general terms we were worthy of getting something from the game.

“But we need to change that attitude when we go 1-0 up or 2-1 up, we’re happy to sit back on a lead.

“I don’t want that – I want to be aggressive.”