Fleetwood Town were held to a 2-2 draw against high-flyers Barnsley at Oakwell on Saturday afternoon after conceding right at the death.
A brilliant performance from Junior Quitirna saw the Cods go into the break a goal up after his opener early on and his free-kick from range not long after, but a goal two minutes from time by substitute Corey O’Keeffe meant the points would have to be shared on the day.
It was a lightning-quick start to the game as both sides managed to find the back of the net in the opening stages, with Lee Johnson’s Cods breaking the deadlock not long after the referee’s whistle.
Jack Marriott sprung the attack that found the opener as he looked to cross the ball into Quitirna inside the opposition’s box and, even though it took a deflection, the ball still found the man, who took it down well and calmly finished past Ben Killip between the Tykes’ sticks.
Disaster struck three minutes later as a deflected cross at the other end looked destined for Jay Lynch, but Cole snuck in first and won a penalty, which Town’s number 13 saved but the former Cod netted the equaliser with the follow-up.
This didn’t dishearten Fleetwood as they looked to put themselves back into the lead and Ryan Broom almost did so as he picked the ball up after Marriott was taken out in the middle of the park and struck an effort on goal, which had to be stopped by a diving Killip.
Barnsley then seemed to find their footing in the game as they created multiple chances from range through Nicky Cadden, John McAtee, and Barry Cotter but none of them troubled Town as all flew wide of the mark from their respective wings.
How about a moment of brilliance to take the pressure out of the situation? Quitirna stepped up to a free kick, which could have arguably seen Jordan Williams be sent off after his tackle on Marriott, and wrapped the ball into the top left corner, making it 2-1.
The hosts came close to bringing the score back to level terms with not long to go in the first half when Herbie Kane decided to try his luck from 20 yards, but his curled effort was only stopped by the woodwork, being the Cods’ saviour this time around.
Around the ground, there was a feeling of everyone against Fleetwood and that wasn’t helped by what seemed to be a stonewall penalty that should have been given to the Cods when Marriott was tackled inside the Barnsley box – nothing was given, and play carried on.
Barnsley were banking on their play down the left wing would bring them a good throughout the second half, as they managed to create gilt-edged chances from that side, but none seemed to break through the Town backline as they stayed stern in front of the home fans.
That was until the 88th minute when a ball over the top found substitute O’Keeffe at the back post who finished off the move with a diving header which went across Lynch and into the back of the net to level the score line right at the death.
Tykes XI: Killip (GK), Williams (C), Russell (Watters 70’), De Gevigney, Cadden (Dodgson 81’), Kane, Cotter (O’Keeffe 63’), McCart, Phillips (Benson 70’), Cole, McAtee (Jalo 81’).
Unused subs: Flavell (GK), Shepherd.
Town XI: Lynch (GK), Wiredu (Tshimanga 63’), Lawal, Vela (C), Broom, Marriott (Stockley 63’), Quitirna (Mayor 50’), Heneghan, Omochere (Montgomery 63’), Rooney (Robertson 80’), Earl.
Unused subs: McMullan (GK), Patterson.