STEVEN Schumacher was happy to see the “swagger” return for Wanderers at home – even though fans had to bite their nails during Barnsley’s second-half comeback.
The Whites’ first-half performance was as convincing as anything they have produced this season at the Toughsheet, with Sam Dalby scoring two and making another for John McAtee.
Barnsley came storming back after the interval, however, with Luca Connell and Adam Phillips setting up a grandstand finish.
“It was a good game, it was exciting,” Schumacher said “Some really good stuff played.
“The way we played in that first half was excellent. We looked a threat every time that we went forward. Really dangerous, some really good moves.
“(We) landed on all the second balls and won all our little duels, one-v-one duels, which is dead important. We looked at a threat from set plays and deservedly went in 3-0 up. We could have been more then 3-0 up and it could have been game over.
“Their goalkeeper made a couple of good saves. And then obviously in the second half, again, we had a couple of chances to go 4-0 up and kill the game off. And then they get one back and it makes it interesting.
“It was an exciting game, good to watch for the neutral.”
Schumacher won a fourth consecutive league game for the first time since taking charge just over a year ago and asked whether it was his side’s best performance, he added: “It's the best we've played for a while,” he said. “We've had good halves here against Wigan and others.
“Port Vale where we've scored early goals and looked really strong. But today it looked like we had a little bit of a swagger back. They had one shot on target, I think, in the first half, in the first minute that Jack (Bonham) had made a brilliant save from. And then after that we took control of it.
“I knew Conor (Hourihane) would make changes at half-time and try and adjust things tactically, which they did and it took us a little bit of time to figure that out.
“But once we did figure it out and got the press right, in the end we've defended the game really well. I know Jack's made a big save for us late on, but we've shown good character again to come through with another big win.”
Barnsley had got themselves back into the game at 3-2 with half an hour still to play but Schumacher was pleased with the way his side saw out the victory.
“As I say, we had to adjust slightly and change what we were doing with our press a little bit because another midfield player, (Patrick) Kelly, was just landing on second balls because he was playing narrow in off the side.
“We had to adjust what we were doing and I think we got a little bit more secure from that moment on. They had a chance late on with a header, didn't they, on the back stick. But no, it's a really good win and it keeps the momentum going.
“It keeps the excitement going. I thought the fans were really good today as well at home, which was excellent.”
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