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Swansea v Barnsley
Coca-Cola League One Play-Off Final
Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Saturday, 27 May 2006
Kick-off: 1500 BST
Referee: Lee Mason (Lancashire)
Head-to-Head Totals:: All competitions: Swansea 30, Barnsley 23, Draws 10
Previous meetings this season ::
Swansea City 3-1 Barnsley
29 August 2005 - Ref: Steve Tanner
Swansea scorers: McLeod 14, Trundle 58, McLeod 90
Barnsley scorer: Burns 35
Barnsley 2-2 Swansea City
4 March 2006 - Ref: Jonathan Moss
Barnsley scorers: Nardiello 56, Richards 61 pen
Swansea scorers: Robinson 48, Trundle 64
Sent Off: O'Leary (Swansea) 59
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Swansea manager Kenny Jackett is set to name the same team that won at Brentford in their play-off match.
Rory Fallon and Leon Knight will start up front, with Lee Trundle on the bench, while Kevin McLeod could figure after recovering from a broken ankle.
Barnsley manager Andy Ritchie has no new injury or suspension problems following the win over Huddersfield.
Chris Shuker could return to the team after Ricthie opted to start with striker Paul Hayes in their last game.
Key Stats::
SWANSEA CITY will not be short of vocal support when they run out at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday afternoon, knowing they're just 90 minutes away from a place in the Championship, and a return to the second tier of League football after an absence of 22 years.
Just Andy Ritchie's Barnsley stand in their way from achieving back-to-back promotions, having climbed out of League Two automatically with a third placed finish 12 months ago.
This is Swansea's second ever visit to the Millennium Stadium. The first was only last month, when they beat Carlisle 2-1 in the final of the Football League Trophy. Barnsley will be experiencing the unique atmosphere of the prestigious Cardiff venue for the first time in their history.
The Swans are participating in the play-offs for the fifth time, and have qualified for their third final.
Their only previous promotion via this end-of-season extra time route came in 1987/88 under Terry Yorath, when the final was played over two legs. They drew 3-3 away to Torquay, having won 2-1 at home to go up from Division Four, 5-4 on aggregate.
In this seasons semi-finals, Kenny Jackett's side scored a late equaliser through Sam Ricketts at home to Brentford, and went to Griffin Park all square at 1-1.
An early brace from Leon Knight proved sufficient in the second leg.
The Welsh club began a new era in the £32 million all-seater Liberty Stadium last August, which they hope will now host second layer soccer next season.
They entered 2006 at the top of the table, but only confirmed their place in the play-offs on the last day, finishing in sixth, two points ahead of Nottingham Forest and Doncaster. Another Welsh outfit, Cardiff, were the fifth and last club at this level to end the regular season in sixth place and win promotion via the play-offs. They managed it three years ago.
BARNSLEY have their sights set on a return to the second tier after an exile of four years.
They finished the League season one place and one point better off than Swansea in fifth place. Their success was built on a sound defence, with an unsurpassed 19 clean sheets in the regular season, plus one in the FA Cup. The Swans were more successful in attack. They finished top scorers in League One with 78 goals.
Dave Bassett was in charge when Barnsley experienced their only previous involvement in the Play Offs. They were vying for promotion to the Premiership in 1999/2000, when they comfortably beat Birmingham in the semi-finals. But Ipswich proved a bridge too far - as the Yorkshire side went down 2-4 at Wembley.
Barnsley were a Premiership club for one season in 1997/98. They then spent four seasons at second League level, before relegation in 2002.
The club finishing fifth in the third tier has gained promotion through the Play Offs on four occasions - Sheffield Wednesday being the most recent last season.
The Tykes were second favourites to make the Millennium Stadium, after losing the opening leg of their play-off semi-final at home to Huddersfield to a late Gary Taylor-Fletcher goal.
But a Paul Hayes penalty, an unfamiliar goal from Paul Reid, and a late effort from ex-Manchester United youth team player Daniel Nardiello turned it around.
The reverse at the Galpharm Stadium, was Barnsley's only defeat in eight - Swansea are unbeaten in five (two wins, three draws).
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