FULL TIME FROM OAKWELL
BARNSLEY 0
WIGAN ATHLETIC 6 (King 9, Heskey 18; Valencia 27; De Ridder 48, 52; Brown 85)
IT was a rout in the end but youngster Kyle Letheren recovered from a shaky first half to pull off a string of fine saves after the break that managed to keep the score to just six 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.
Substitute Jamal Campbell-Ryce almost pulled one back just two minutes after the restart when his bundling run into the area ended with a low shot that flew just wide.
Wigan went further in front just a minute later when Valencia's cross from the left caused all sorts of problems and the loose ball smacked De Ridder on the arm before rebounding past Letheren and into the net.
Martin Devaney had the crowd on its feet on 49 minutes with a fine pass through the heart of the Wigan defence to send Jon Macken through but the striker could not beat Pollitt from 25 yards.
Wigan again tore the Reds to shreds on 52 minutes and again the outstanding De Ridder was at the heart of it. The midfielder firstly saw a low shot well saved before Valencia brought a fine stop from Letheren with the rebound. It came back to De Ridder on the right hand side and he showed a cool head to chip an exquisite lob over Letheren and into the back of the net.
De Ridder eased his way past Rob Kozluk on 57 minutes only for the Reds full back to stick out an arm and deflect the ball out. The referee pointed to the spot and De Ridder blew his hat trick chance with a poor penalty that Letheren did well to get down and smother.
Iain Hume was an inch away from his first Oakwell goal on 59 minutes but he just could not reach Marciano Van Homoet's fizzing cross from the left.
Letheren again pulled off a fine stop two minutes later to tip over King's piledriver before the young Welshman was at full stretch to divert Brown's corner out of the to corner.
Hume then went close with a curling free kick from 25 yards on 65 minutes that had Pollitt rooted to the spot but the ball just flew a foot or so wide of the post. Hume turned provider two minutes with a great cross from the right that was perfect for Macken to attack but the striker just could not turn the ball past Pollitt.
Macken went even closer on 68 minutes as he somehow found himself in behind the Wigan defence and fired in a shot that beat Pollitt but cannoned back off the underside of the bar.
Barnsley were finally on top although five goals down and Devaney drove at the heart of the Wigan backline again on 73 minutes. Wigan dropped deep but Devaney could not beat Pollitt from 25 yards.
Michael Brown should have had Wigan's sixth on 75 minutes when he raced onto De Ridder's through ball but dragged his shot well wide of the target.
Letheren pulled off yet another outstanding stop on 77 minutes when he managed to get his fingertips to Henri Camara's shot and turn the ball against the post and away for a corner.
The young keeper excelled again on 84 minutes when he got down quickly to stop David Cotterill's drive from creeping in at the near post.
Letheren's luck ran out a minute later as his defence went totally AWOL and allowed Brown the chance to tap in from Cotterill's short corner.
BARNSLEY: Letheren, Foster, Souza, Moore, Kozluk (Van Homoet 58), Leon (Campbell-Ryce 45), Howard (Devaney 45), Hassell (Togwell 72), el Haimour, Macken (Odejayi 75), Hume (Adam 75).
Subs: Butterfield, Atkinson, Free.
WIGAN ATHLETIC: Pollitt, Melchiot (Brown 58), Figueroa, Boyce, Scharner (Valencia 14 (Montrose 58)), Palacios (Kupisc 58), De Ridder, Cattermole (Cotterill 75), Heskey (Camara 45), King, Kilbane.
Subs: Nash.
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