Tomasz Cywka’s wonderful finish and a heroic defensive display gave Barnsley 1-0 win at Charlton Athletic on Saturday.
The Polish midfielder cut in from the left and finished from a very tight angle on 64 minutes to give the Reds the win their performance deserved.
Barnsley were on top in the first half and had a succession of long-range shots which were blocked or wide. The game’s first major chance came on 35 minutes when Chris Dagnall brought down Craig Davies’ cross five yards out but was denied twice by home goalkeeper Ben Hamer.
Barnsley goalkeeper Ben Alnwick then pulled off excellent saves from free-kicks by Abdul Razak and Dale Stephens in the last two minutes of the first half.
Dagnall missed second fine chance after the break when he hacked Jacob Mellis’ cross wide from eight yards. Cywka then broke the deadlock with a superb finish from a seemingly impossible angle after he cut in from the left wing.
Charlton almost levelled in the last five minutes but Scott Wiseman cleared off the line after a goalmouth scramble and Ben Alnwick made a good save to deny Bradley Wright-Phillips.
