Michael Skubala salutes Adam Reach’s wonder strike in Lincoln’s win at Barnsley

Lincoln boss Michael Skubala heaped praise on Adam Reach after his wonder goal sealed all three points for the Imps in the 2-0 win against Barnsley on Monday.

Reach’s thunderous volley from outside the area in the second half added to Tom Hamer’s early opener and ensured the hosts fell to a third straight defeat.

The Tykes barely threatened the Lincoln goal and the visitors made it two straight wins on the road.

Skubala said: “We were really solid from the get-go.

“We run hard for each other, we work hard and we pride ourselves on that as a team, and that’s what makes us exciting.

“I’m over the moon with the performance.”

A series of poor errors, starting with Jonathan Bland giving the ball away needlessly and Reyes Cleary committing a foul, led to the opener in the eighth minute.

Adam Reach faked to shoot from the free-kick from the right before Ivan Varfolomeev crossed for Hamer to head home for the Imps.

Barnsley came close through Patrick Kelly and Cleary in the first half, but it was Skubala’s side who came the closest through Reach, whose 20-yard strike went narrowly wide.

The hosts were booed off at half-time, but they started the brighter after the break coming close through Cleary and then substitute Adam Phillips’ wicked half-volley.

But it was the Imps and Reach who sealed the win in style with 18 minutes to play.

A long throw was headed out to the former Sheffield Wednesday man 25 yards out and he unleashed a lethal volley which cannoned in off the underside of the crossbar.

Skubala added: “The lads are saying it came off his shin pad.

“He’s (Reach) got so much quality. He adds so much to the team, all of them do, but Reachy in particular is probably one of the best pros I’ve ever worked with.”

Barnsley head coach Conor Hourihane said: “I’m really disappointed.

“We’re going through a bit of a sticky patch at the minute, obviously since the Leyton Orient game we’ve lost three in a row.

“I think I was more pleased with that tonight than I was the last couple of games.

“Coming up against a team who are second in the league, we knew it was going to be tough, but I thought we were in the game throughout.

“It’s a group that are really honest and they do everything I ask them to do. We’re trying so hard.

“We’ve got some really exciting players and the club’s in a bit of a phase now where there’s a little bit of a rebuild with younger, exciting players.”