OLD boy Neil Redfearn denied Wanderers two heaven sent points in the Roses battle at Oakwell last night ... then tipped them to bounce straight back into the Premiership.

The Barnsley skipper scored twice to slam the door as the Burnden boys threatened to make a run for it at the top of Division One.

But the former Bolton apprentice, who always makes a nuisance of himself against his old club, still rates them head and shoulders above the rest.

"They are the outstanding side in the league," Redfearn declared after claiming the man of the match award for pegging Wanderers back from a fortuitous, yet commanding two-goal lead.

"They are a top class outfit with good players everywhere. We've played all the top sides and none of them are in the same league as Bolton.

"We felt we could have won the game but our gaffer is chuffed to bits with us because we've shown character to come from 2-0 down against the best side in the division.

"These are the team to beat and I'm just glad they're not running away with it."

A single point was scant consolation as disappointed Wanderers reflected on the naivety that cost them the chance to leave the rest of the promotion chasers trailing in their wake

They couldn't believe their luck as they held a two-goal lead 50 minutes into a frenetic game that eventually exposed the major flaw in their make-up.

For all their flair, adventurous style and high scoring potential, they always give the opposition a chance. And until they can tighten up defensively, there will always be a question mark over their ability to stay the pace. Colin Todd knows the score and, pointing the finger at his side's defensive frailties, he complained: "We say we are a good side, which we are, but good sides know how to win games when they go 2-0 up.

"If we were 2-0 up at home that would be enough to win the game. But it's something we haven't been able to get to grips with in away games."

Wanderers remain unbeaten in 12 league and cup games, held a four-point lead at the top of the table this morning and headed the nation's goal charts. No manager in the land would rip into a team with that record.

But Todd saw his men get the benefit of a controversial penalty decision after just 75 seconds then a lucky deflection to double their lead five minutes into the second half. And seeing them look such a gift horse in the mouth left him understandably disturbed.

"Before the game we'd have settled for a point because Barnsley are a good side; their league position shows that and we knew we were going to be in for a tough game," the Burnden boss explained.

"But we are disappointed, in fact the players are bitterly disappointed because we got our noses so far in front and only came away with a point."

Yet this was a generally lacklustre performance that, in truth, deserved no more than it got. Wanderers, watched by former boss Bruce Rioch, were a shadow of the team that has overtaken Barnsley, the early pacemakers, to blaze an impressive trail at the head of the field.

They lacked the fluency of so many of their league displays and fell way short of the high-energy performance that chased Chelsea out of the Coca-Cola Cup three nights earlier. Todd accepted the cup tie could have taken its toll but refused to paper over the cracks. "They put a hell of a lot into Tuesday's game but I don't make any excuses for my players," he said dismissively. "We should still have been able to come away with the three points."

Barnsley were left to argue that justice was seen to be done in the end.

Wanderers got the benefit of the doubt when referee Mike Bailey awarded a penalty when Steve Davis barged Alan Thompson over on the edge of the box after a super-slick move involving Gerry Taggart, Scott Sellars and John McGinlay. TV replays showed the offence took place outside the area but McGinlay wasn't complaining as he duly converted the spot-kick to move level with Nathan Blake on 11 goals for the season.

And Thompson didn't complain either when his 35-yard drive took a wicked deflection off the Tykes' Dutch defender Arjan de Zeeuw and cruelly wrong-footed goalkeeper David Watson - just as Barnsley were sensing they might score themselves.

"It was like suddenly getting a punctured lung!" Danny Wilson admitted. "We couldn't do anything about the penalty. Although I didn't see it, people who did on TV said it was two yards outside the box. Then the second goal ... you just can't legislate for that.

"Yet we responded well against what I think is the best team in the league, a team I have predicted will get back into the Premier League, and I just can't be disappointed. We could even have won it in the end." With Wanderers performing below par in all departments, Barnsley's recovery became more ominous as the game wore on and John Hendrie started to make his mark. The former Middlesbrough man, making only his fourth appearance, delivered the cross from the right for Redfearn to float in between ball-watching Danish duo Per Frandsen and Michael Johansen to pull back the first on 58 minutes.

And it was Hendrie's pace and trickery that forced Gerry Taggart to concede the borderline penalty Redfearn confidently converted in the 67th.

Taggart had been so determined to do well on his first game back at Oakwell since his £1.5 million move in the summer of 95 but he will not have been happy with the general standard of the defending. The Bolton back four at least managed to redeem themselves in the closing minutes, although they might have been punished again right at the death when Hendrie's cross-shot was just a fraction too hard for Paul Wilkinson to reach.

Action at both ends at least contributed to an exciting encounter, even if Wanderers know they can perform much better.

Defensively they were suspect. In the first half alone Mattie Appleyard and Davis had desperate near misses, Darren Sheridan hit the post and Keith Branagan denied Redfearn with a marvellous save.

They toiled in midfield after a bright opening and there wasn't much joy for the strikers either, although McGinlay was furious with himself for missing the target completely in the 27th minute and Blake, who got himself needlessly booked in the first half, went closest in the second with an angled drive.

Disappointed though they were not to get their first win at Oakwell for 88 years, they will probably be happy with a point after such an indifferent display.

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