“I think the ride’s over,” I told my roommate this afternoon. “3-0 to Chelsea.”

I wasn’t hopeful for today’s encounter at Oakwell. I know Barnsley had lost only twice at home in the Championship this season and I watched Chelsea thrash Olympakios at Stamford Bridge mid-week. Barnsley’s form hadn’t been anything to write home about since the Liverpool victory.

That’s the great thing about the Cup: form doesn’t matter.

Team selection does though. Simon Davey got his right; playing Jamaican international Jamal Campbell-Ryce proved masterful in neutering some of Chelsea’s wing play because the tiny winger buzzed up and down and harried one and all.

But Chelsea had to make do without Lampard and Cech through injury and Ashley Cole, Claude Makalele and Paulo Ferriera were rested.

While Chelsea could do without the last three, it was the former two that proved their undoing at Oakwell.
Lampard gives Chelsea its impetus and its steel in midfield. On days like today, where the team felt desperately out of sync, Lampard’s the talismanic figure who drives them forward. Without him, Chelsea didn’t look up for the scrap.

And then there’s Carlo Cudicini. Much like his compatriot at Liverpool, Cudicini would have a part to play in Barnsley’s passage. For Charles Itandje, it was a poorly covered near post. For Cudicini, there would be another flapping attempt to haul in a cross.

Cudicini had flapped at a couple of balls across the area earlier in the contest. Barnsley had hit the post through Ferenczi in the first half and had the more threatening of the chances in an even first stanza.

But Barnsley were under the cosh for most of the second half as Brian Howard struggled to assert himself in the contest.

Yet there was Disco Devaney, an astute crosser of the ball who drew this comment from my roommate:  “He’s really dangerous if you give him the space to get in a cross,” popping up once again. A simple overlap drew Belletti away from his mark and Devaney’s majestic cross found Kayode Odejayi at the far post.

Cudicini should have gotten to the cross, but Odejayi tapped into the open net. It was what Barnsley’s endeavor and graft deserved.

Chelsea sent numbers forward in the last 25 minutes, but there wasn’t any of the quality you’d expect. No quality saves to keep them at bay. Just brave Tykes throwing themselves in front of every strike.

After a harrowing final period, Steve Bennett sent Oakwell into rapture and onto the pitch with the final whistle.
For once, the underdog can say that victory was earned rather than stolen after an abject Chelsea display sees the holders out.

For Barnsley, Wembley and the FA Cup semifinals beckon.

For me, it’s two Barnsley matches next week as I travel to Oakwell for the Ipswich match on Tuesday before heading to Selhurst Park to catch Barnsley-Crystal Palace a week from today.

The blog’s dormant until then, but the column continues as usual.