Championship denouements do not get any more exhilarating. Barnsley preserved their second-tier status in the most dramatic fashion possible, an added-time goal from the 19-year-old substitute Clarke Oduor completing an escape that had hardly seemed likely.
Wigan’s 12-point deduction means the Tykes will stay up (pending an appeal) and, on the balance of an extraordinary night’s action, it was thoroughly deserved. What a devastating blow this was for Brentford, who would have been promoted with a win but squandered their chance and must regroup for the play-offs.
When Josh Dasilva equalised after Callum Styles’s first-half strike they threatened to finish the job, but Oduor converted a cross from Patrick Schmidt to steal the show in an intense back-and-forth finale.
By half-time the echoes of recent history were deafening. Brentford had lost the chance to control their destiny after defeat at Stoke and, when news filtered through that Ryan Manning had scored for QPR against West Brom, the hope must have been that they would pull themselves together.
But Barnsley were excellent, playing like a side that had taken 21 points from its previous 13 games rather than one that required a win – not to mention a prayer – to guarantee Championship status. They pressed relentlessly, which should be no major surprise given the Red Bull Salzburg schooling of their manager, Gerhard Struber, and Styles’s goal was the least their application deserved.
It was rapped home emphatically after a sweeping move ended with a diagonal cross from the right that evaded Pontus Jansson. Barnsley’s players wheeled away in celebration and the 20-year-old wing-back Styles could be commended for his timing: this was his first goal in professional football and full reward for a display full of running and smart distribution.
While Barnsley had hardly run riot they had created a couple of half-chances and ensured the hosts’ more measured approach rarely had anywhere to go. An early effort from Emiliano Marcondes, dragged wide after blazing a trail through midfield, and a Saïd Benrahma shot that Jack Walton parried with relative ease were Brentford’s only contributions of note as the minutes ticked down.
Just before the whistle they were unfortunate not to equalise, Walton making a quite stunning save from Bryan Mbeumo after Rico Henry had centred from the left, but West Brom’s leveller 120 miles away meant they had it all to do.
Five minutes into the second half, only a last-ditch block from Ethan Pinnock prevented Jacob Brown doubling Barnsley’s lead after Luke Thomas had led a three-on-two counterattack. Results elsewhere were going their way and there was little suggestion they would surrender their own side of the bargain.
Brentford were still in a trough, their football a pale and stuttering imitation of the vibrant fare that has marked their season, but a helter-skelter affair at the Hawthorns meant the slightest improvement in tempo could yet yield lavish rewards.
Thomas Frank knew it. He brought on the forwards Sergi Canós and Tariqe Fosu; the change of speed was instant and brought a goal they had hardly threatened. Dasilva’s finish, whipped beyond Walton from 16 yards, was exceptional and set in train a blistering final spell.
Even in a near-empty stadium, the tension was excruciating. Dasilva sliced wide and Fosu, teed up by Ollie Watkins, stumbled when well placed. It was attack against attack, both sides knowing a goal would bring their prize. Styles warmed David Raya’s palms and by now the clubs’ delegates in the main stand had abandoned any sense of decorum. Then Odour tapped in and the visiting contingent were in raptures.