Simon Davey believes his Barnsley side were worthy of the point gained late on in Tuesday's 2-2 draw with Scunthorpe at Glanford Park.Brian Howard's 95th-minute spot-kick - after referee Clive Oliver gave a handball against Andy Crosby - allied with a superb Grant McCann volley, helped the Tykes come back from 2-0 down after Ian Morris and Kelly Youga goals either side of the interval had given the Iron a deserved lead.
Despite their dramatic comeback though, Barnsley have not won on the road since September 22 and are without a victory in six Championship games, leaving Davey knowing his side still have a lot of work to do.
"I thought we were diabolical in the first half," said Davey. "At half-time we needed to make sure we got a reaction from the players and we did, a positive reaction.
"I thought based on the second half that it was a thoroughly deserved point.
"The second-half performance will serve as a nice platform for us, as the first was disgraceful.
"It's nice to take the confidence with us into the FA Cup this weekend. We've registered some points for 2008 and that's nice."
The climatic end mirrors Barnsley's clash with Stoke at Oakwell just six days ago, when a Liam Lawrence penalty deep into injury-time earned Stoke a point in almost identical circumstances.
"It's a deserved result whether or not it comes in the 72nd minute or the 94th minute," said Davey.
"We've had it happen to us a couple of times in the last couple of weeks and it's horrible to take as a manager, which I know from experience, but it's swings and roundabouts.
"We've got out of jail you could say. Sometimes decisions don't go for you. Fortunately we had the right decision in the last minute today and we've got a well deserved draw.
"It's a nice point for us and at 2-0 down it's a good result. Credit to the players because they've stuck in there."
Scunthorpe manager Nigel Adkins did not share Davey's view that a draw was a fair result.
The Iron were 30 seconds away from recording a first home win in 10 games and moving out of the relegation zone when the penalty was given.
"I thought we played some great football and created numerous opportunities," he said. "It's the fourth game in 10 days but to play the way we did in the first half was commendable.
"It was pass and move and we did that in abundance. In the second half, the goal that McCann scored gave them a lifeline.
"They pressed, got the ball forward and pressed. With all the will in the world we tried to keep them out, it never happened and then in injury-time a refereeing decision again has given them a penalty.
"Yes the ball has hit Andy Crosby's hand, yes he doesn't know anything about it and the referee has given the penalty.
"We'd have liked to have been on 30 points at this stage but we're on 27 so we're a little bit short of where we want to be.
"But we have to take where we are. The performance and the effort was worthy of a victory but we're allowed the emotion of being down."
After suffering a 5-0 defeat at West Brom on Saturday, Adkins admits he was delighted with the way his men responded to the defeat in the first half of the New Year's Day contest.
He explained: "We try to play football but at the end we could have done with an ugly, get the ball out performance. We tried that but didn't do it very well.
"We need to keep the spirits up as much as we can. We're allowed to be down today but we'll pick that emotion and turn it around.
"No-one would have expected the players to have perform the way they did after what happened to us at West Brom so the morale of the side isn't a problem.
"No-one
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