A furious Paul Bracewell read the riot act to his Fulham side after the Whites squandered the start offered by Karl-Heinz Riedle’s opening goal to lose 3-1 to the Tykes at Craven Cottage this afternoon.
German veteran Riedle fired Fulham in front after 25 minutes after the visiting defence failed to clear a corner. The former Liverpool striker stayed alive to beat the Barnsley offside trap and squeeze a volley on the turn past Keith Miller having latched onto a hopeful through ball from Steve Hayward. But the hosts’ lead lasted only ten minutes before Kit Symons’ turned a cross from Craig Hignett into his own net at the near post after being panicked by the presence of Bruce Dyer in the penalty area.
Dyer made it two shortly after the hour mark when he swivelled to fire in a volley from the tightest of angles, surprising Maik Taylor at his near post after a well-worked move down the left flank. Barnsley added a third just six minutes later through Robin van der Laan as the Dutch midfielder finished off a brilliant counter-attack. Fulham substitute Barry Hayles was denied a shooting opportunity by a terrific sliding tackle from Chris Morgan and Hignett led the Reds up the field with a superb 60-sixty run before slipping in van der Laan, who cleverly lifted his finish over the advancing Taylor to the delight of the travelling supporters.
FULHAM (4-3-3): Taylor; Uhlenbeek (Hayles 64), Symons, Coleman, Melville; Hayward, Trollope, Clark; Horsfield, Riedle (Peschisolido 64), Cadamarteri. Subs (not used): Hahnemann, S. Morgan, W. Collins.
GOAL: Riedle (25).
BARNSLEY (4-4-2): Miller; C. Morgan, Barker, Jones, Eaden; Tinkler, Appleby (Barnard 62), van der Laan, Hignett; Shipperley, Dyer (Thomas 85). Subs (not used): Bullock, Bengtsson, Hristov.
BOOKED: C. Morgan, Barker.
GOALS: Symons (o.g. 35), Dyer (61), van der Laan (67).
REFEREE: Peter Walton (Northamptonshire).
ATTENDANCE: 10,634.
