An 10th minute penalty converted by Brad Abbott got the young Reds off to the perfect start on a hot sunny day.
It was a mistake in the Wigan defence that led to the first goal when a pass from Bram Johnstone to Andrew Mason was latched onto by George Maris and was subsequently fouled by the Latics’ keeper Calvin Hare to set up a penalty for Abbott.
Wigan were reduced to taking chances from distance as Barnsley continued to press for a second goal. With seven minutes remaining of the half the Reds indeed found the second goal. George Maris was again at the heart of the move cutting the ball back for Kenna Ngoma to slot the ball past the Latics’ keeper.
With Wigan not able to make any headway in the second half it was up to Barnsley to again create a telling move to go three goals up.
A ball over the top of the Wigan defence wasn’t cleared properly by the Latics’ defence and it fell nicely for Erico Sousa to strike a half volley beyond the ‘keeper.
