HALF TIME FROM OAKWELL
BARNSLEY 0
WIGAN ATHLETIC 3 (King 9, Heskey 18, Valencia 27)
BARNSLEY were given a harsh work out as Wigan Athletic ran riot in a one-sided opening 45-minutes at Oakwell.
Reds boss Simon Davey welcomed back Iain Hume, Bobby Hassell and Diego Leon for the clash with Premier League side Wigan Athletic, who named a very strong side for the game at Oakwell.
Wigan were on the front foot from the first whistle and only a great tackle by Rob Kozluk on two minutes prevented Wilson Palacios from giving the Latics the lead from a corner. Wigan new boy Lee Cattermole made a mockery of the friendly nature of the game on five minutes with a crunching foul on Brian Howard that left the Reds skipper in agony.
A mistake by Howard gifted Wigan the lead on nine minutes when his pass was easily intercepted and the ball bounced through to Marlon King, who made no mistake and rifled his shot past Kyle Letheren from 12 yards.
Howard looked to drag his side back into the game with a 25-yard free kick that brought a smart diving save from Mike Pollitt on 18 minutes before Emile Heskey doubled the lead with a speculative effort at the other end seconds later that fizzed through Letheren.
Jon Macken then had a half-hearted appeal for a penalty waved away on 24 minutes as he turned in the area onto Howard's flick but was pulled back a little by Kevin Kilbane.
Wigan strolled into a three goal lead on 27 minutes when the Barnsley defence went walkabout and Antonio Valencia was able to pick out the simplest of passes to give Palacios the chance to rifle home at the back post.
De Ridder almost capped a fine first half with a stunning goal on 28 minutes after hammering in a great effort from 25 yards that beat Letheren all ends up and cannoned down off the underside of the bar and away.
De Riddler again rattled the woodwork just after the half hour when he cut in menacingly from the right hand side and smashed a shot that struck the post with Letheren struggling to get across.
Cattermole again went straight through Howard on 44 minutes to give the Reds a shooting chance on the edge of the Wigan area. Howard smashed his free kick into the wall and away for a corner.
BARNSLEY: Letheren, Foster, Souza, Moore, Kozluk, Leon, Howard, Hassell, el Haimour, Macken, Hume.
Subs: Odejayi, Campbell-Ryce, Devaney, Butterfield, Atkinson, Togwell, Adam, Free.
WIGAN ATHLETIC: Pollitt, Melchiot, Figueroa, Boyce, Scharner (Valencia 14), Palacios, De Ridder, Cattermole, Heskey, King, Kilbane.
Subs: Nash, Brown, Camara, Cotterill, Montrose, Kupisc.
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