City 0 Barnsley 2

MAJOR road works and closures because of a nearby fire made getting to Valley Parade a tricky affair for many.

Not just fans as Barnsley finally negotiated their route to the stadium just 45 minutes before kick-off.

But they were not the team who failed to show up on an occasion that sadly did not live up to the hype.

“Arrived late, finished early” was the snappy message on Barnsley’s Twitter feed at the final whistle.

For the opening home game, it was their hosts ultimately going nowhere like a commuter stuck in endless traffic cones.

After the buzz of Shrewsbury, Saturday felt the flattest of antidotes. The Bantams barely managed to get beyond first gear against opponents who coasted to back-to-back wins once they had secured the luxury of their second goal.

Michael Collins put a brave face on it but there was no hiding away from the match facts. City mustered only two efforts all afternoon – and not a single one actually on target.

Chairman Edin Rahic is known to be big on the shot count and those figures won’t make good reading in the boardroom.

His programme notes praising the opening win also carried the warning: “Unless we are able to build from last Saturday then it won’t count for very much.”

City came up significantly short in a match that he had billed as “huge”.

It was not for lack of trying against a team who, even at this ridiculously early stage, carry the bearing of a genuine top-two contender.

“We’re top of the league” crowed the 2,500-strong away support as the Tykes made it six goals without reply from the first week of their bid to bounce straight back to the Championship.

Powerful, big, quick and direct, they are going to be a handful for anyone.

But City looked directionless and headless as they struggled to respond to the early blow inflicted by Tom Bradshaw’s flashing header.

It’s not hard to see why he has second-tier suitors, most notably Millwall, and Barnsley’s battle to keep him at Oakwell could pay dividends even if he walks away for free when his contract’s up next summer.

Of course, it could have been different if referee Tim Robinson had seen something in Ethan Pinnock’s challenge on Sean Scannell in the corner of the box.

Still 1-0 at that time, the Bantams were in the contest if still not directly applying any significant pressure on Adam Davies in the Barnsley goal.

Scannell was adamant that the defender had played man before ball, so was his head coach and an enraged Kop but the Sussex official was unimpressed.

Barring a couple of crosses that flashed through the six-yard box, that was the closest hint of City finding a way out of their cul-de-sac.

It was a downer for a home crowd just shy of 19,000 – and all very much in attendance rather than the “official” figures quoted for half-empty audiences in the second half of last season.

The roar that followed the minute’s applause in memory of club doctor Vince Cavaliere had the senses tingling and anticipating something special.

For the first six minutes, the hope was there as City pinged the ball about and began to feed off the emotion of the fans.

But then Barnsley flexed their muscles and crossed halfway to deadly effect.

Kieffer Moore, inevitably given the conjecture in the January transfer window, was at the heart of it.

His first shot was scrambled away in front of goal by Anthony O’Connor; his follow-up palmed out by the agile Richard O’Donnell.

But still the danger was alive as Dimitri Cavare whipped a ball back into the mix where Bradshaw threw himself forward to divert it into the far corner.

Collins admitted the composure drained from his team at that point. They tried to force a response rather than build one and rarely troubled Barnsley in the area of the pitch where it most mattered.

But the formation, that had caught Shrewsbury on the hop the week before, did them no favours. Barnsley switched into 4-2-4 mode at times on the counter-attack and played into the room out wide left by setting up with three centre backs.

Joe Riley’s uncomfortable game came to a premature end at the break and Sherwin Seedorf’s appearance did give City a better shape. Like Jack Payne, the youngster tried to run at Barnsley at every opportunity, even if it did not always work out.

Eoin Doyle had not surprisingly got the nod over George Miller in the spearhead role after being restricted to the bench on his debut because of a bug.

He showed a poacher’s touch when he did get the ball – but it was nowhere near often enough as the service remained scant. The Irishman must have felt as frustrated as many of those watching.

O’Donnell began the second half by tipping away a decent effort from Payne’s housemate Alex Mowatt before City started to find their feet again.

When Scannell’s were taken from him by the clumsy Pinnock, all eyes turned to the referee – who pointed for corner not penalty.

O’Connor headed over from that as the perceived injustice developed into loud backing once more.

But that was punctured once Daniel Stendel made a double change.

The 44-year-old German had been offered to City in the summer as a possible candidate for the Valley Parade hot-seat.

Stendel’s golden touch with his substitutions on Saturday may have had Rahic wishing he had taken up the opportunity.

On 68 minutes, Stendel replaced Moore and the impressive Mamadou Thiam with George Moncur and Victor Adeboyejo.

On 70 minutes, Moncur – a traditional thorn in City’s side – was running half the length of the pitch to lay Barnsley’s second on a plate for the young striker.

O’Connor, already on a yellow card, could not touch Moncur once he turned away from him. But Nathaniel Knight-Percival was brushed away far too easily as the sub bore down on goal.

The Barnsley carnival could begin in earnest at the Bradford End. The strains of “it’s just like watching Brazil” washed over Valley Parade – to a muted response both on and off the pitch.

City, still developing as a group after all the upheaval, should not be judged on one defeat against a team pretty much intact from the Championship days.

But it looked an immediate eye-opener into what will be required to be near that top bracket this season.

PLAYER RATINGS

CITY: O’Donnell 7, Mellor 6, O’Connor 7, Knight-Percival 5 (Robinson 71), Riley 5 (Seedorf 46min, 6), Akpan 6, Wright 5, Chicksen 5, Scannell 6 (Miller 78min), Payne 6, Doyle 6. Subs (not used): McGowan, Bruenker, Hudson, Wilson.

BARNSLEY: Davies 6, Cavare 7, Pinnock 7, Lindsay 7, Pinillos 6, Potts 7 (Isgrove 90min), Dougall 6, Mowatt 7, Thiam 8 (Moncur 68min), Bradshaw 8, Moore 7 (Adeboyejo 68min). Subs (not used): Jackson, Williams, McGeehan, Walton.