DES Buckingham wants to see more done to ensure time-wasting and game management are kept to a minimum in football.

Oxford United’s head coach watched from the touchline as his side were deprived of momentum via Barnsley’s game management tactics.

The Tykes took the lead at Grenoble Road just before the half hour mark, through Sam Long’s own goal.

Testing weather conditions also played their part at the Kassam Stadium, as the wind and rain swirled across the turf throughout the 90 minutes.

Buckingham though pinpointed Barnsley’s subtle tactics to run down the clock, and although he admitted his U’s side would do the exact same if the roles were reversed, he called for a crackdown from the authorities.

He said: “The frustrating thing from the side is that the referees will tell you they’re adding the time on at the end.

“The thing that people fail to realise is it’s not about the time at the end, it’s about the momentum in the game, that kills the game.

“It’s clever game management, you can put it that way, but at the same time, if the referees don’t deal with it in-game, it has an effect on the game.

“It’s frustrating for the players, it’s frustrating for the fans, and putting the time at the end is great, but at the same time, we need to make sure the game is free-flowing.

“We want people to come and watch the game, and enjoy it. When there are so many stoppages, and it’s not managed effectively, it becomes pretty difficult and frustrating.

“Don’t get me wrong, we’d probably do the same thing the other way, but that’s the way the rule is, and it’s probably something that needs looking at, just to make sure it’s being managed in-game.”

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Fin Stevens and Marcus McGuane wasted good chances for United during the first half, adding to Buckingham’s frustration.

He said: “It was a horrible night for football and difficult for both teams to try and play any type of football.

“We’ve had two big chances in the first half. The first when Sparky [Mark Harris] slides Fin through and he puts it just wide of the post, and then when Marcus McGuane goes through and the weather plays havoc with trying to put it over the keeper.

“In the second half, Cameron Brannagan hit the crossbar, and there were two or three other moments later in the second half where if we’d made slightly different and better decisions, we’d have got at least one of the goals that the play deserved.

“They’re a good team. They got their goal, and defended their goal very well.”

Buckingham added: “We’ve had a couple of chances that on other nights, you may come away with two or three goals, and be pretty happy with it.

“That wasn’t the case, but what we need to make sure is that we continue to work on it with the players we have, and then with the players we bring in or bring back, that when we get those chances, we convert them more often.”