Port Vale 0
The Reds go in at half time ahead at Oakwell thanks to a goal in stoppage time from Milan Lalkovic. Due to an earlier injury to Vale's Veseli, there were seven added minutes at the end of the first period and it took Barnsley just two of them to take the lead.
The game started quickly and it was not long until Ross Turnbull's goal was under siege from the Port Vale attack. Showing some good defensive skills, the back line was able to deal with the attack as some good communication led to Turnbull being able to comfortably capture the loose ball.
Keen to get their share of the action in the opening minutes, the Reds were immediately at the away side and thanks to some very nice passing play involving Conor Hourihane and the attackers, the Reds created a good rhythm.
A rather serious looking injury to Vale's Frederic Veseli then halted that rhythm as the game stopped for a considerable period as the player was treated by paramedics.
Surprisingly, Veseli was back on his feet and on the pitch after the stoppage despite what had initially looked like a potentially nasty injury.
Taking some time to rediscover their flow, the Reds remained in control of proceedings, limiting Port Vale to very brief spells in possession.
Winning a corner on 24 minutes thanks to some good work from Hourihane, the Irishman then delivered the ball into the area but the cross failed to find anyone in a red shirt.
The pressure from Barnsley continued and soon afterwards they had another corner after Port Vale keeper Chris Neal had been forced to punch the ball away from his goal-line.
The Reds again did not find the target from this chance but their attacking intentions were starting to become clear.
On the half hour mark Dale Jennings had Barnsley's best chance of the period when he unleashed a powerful effort towards the Vale goal from around 25 yards. Seeming to take the Vale keeper by surprise, Neal managed to parry the ball away over his bar.
The Reds continued to terrorize Vale at the back and on 36 minutes they had a strong hand ball claim waved away after almost every player on the pitch was been involved in a scramble in the Vale area.
A reward for their hard work then came deep into stoppage time after the referee had indicated that their would be a minimum of seven minutes. It was Milan Lalkovic who got the goal when he found room close to goal to shoot from a tight angle.
Chris Neal looked to have initially saved the effort but it was too hot to handle as the ball spilled out at found its way over the line to give the Reds the lead.
Teams:
Reds: Turnbull, Nyatanga, Cranie (C), Hourihane, Hemmings, Jennings, M'Voto, Ramage, Pearson, Lalkovic, Waring.
Subs: Davies, Scowen, Winnall, Digby, Smith, Lita, Kiwomya.
Port Vale: Neal, Yates, Dickinson (C), Robertson, Williamson (32), Lines, Pope, O'Connor, Daniel, Marshall, Veseli.
Subs: Johnson, McGivern, Duffy, Birchall (32), Brown, Moore, Lloyd.
Referee: Graham Salisbury
