Barnsley boss: We avoided 'disaster' against Carlisle United

The promotion-chasing Tykes fought back to win 2-1 after Luke Armstrong had shot United ahead.

The Blues also missed three golden opportunities in the first 12 minutes at Oakwell in a remarkable start to the game.

It left manager Collins glad his team survived that period without more damage, before going on to turn things around.

"It was clear there were a lot of basic individual errors out there," said Collins, speaking to the Barnsley Chronicle.

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"We got punished for it and could have been punished more.

"But we dug in, got to half-time then, in the second half, there were still some errors but they weren’t as bad. We scored a fantastic goal [through Devante Cole] then went on to win it.

Herbie Kane scores the penalty to win it for Barnsley (Image: Richard Parkes)

“We will learn. Not many of those players have played like that before."

Collins admitted his side "got away with" only being 1-0 down early on.

"We never controlled the game, it was just a fight and battle," he added.

"The players showed a lot of character. It could have ended up in a complete disaster but they kept going and got there in the end.”

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Carlisle were aggrieved at ref Will Finnie's decision to award Barnsley an 86th-minute penalty for Jordan Gibson's challenge on Adam Phillips.

But the home boss preferred to dwell on Herbie Kane's composure as he fired the winner from the spot.

“Based on the kind of night it was, you’re thinking, ‘We will miss this and it will sum up the evening.'," he said.

"But credit to Herbie. He showed excellent composure. For both goals there was a lot of quality.”

“There are far more positives. It’s a very tight league and we’re right up there competing.”

While United remained second bottom a six points adrift of the safety line, Barnsley extended their unbeaten run to ten league games as they moved up a place to fifth.