Reds 1 (Ramage 4)
Fleetwood 2 (McLaughlin 14, McAlinden 33)
Peter Ramage got things started for the Reds early on as the defender took advantage of a loose ball in the Fleetwood box to give the Reds the lead. From there things went sour as Fleetwood scored twice put the visitors in front.
Despite spending the entire second half trying to find a way back into the game, the Reds were unable to record a fifth home win a row.
The Reds got off to a flying start this evening at Oakwell after winning a dangerous free-kick in the opening encounters.
True to form, Conor Hourihane fired a dangerous shot towards goal from the set-piece and Fleetwood's Chris Maxwell was unable to smother the ball after making an initial save.
Displaying a striker's eye, loanee Peter Ramage was fastest to pounce on the loose ball and the defender neatly found the back of the net from around six yards to give the Reds an early lead.
The Reds' lead was taken away ten minutes later when Fleetwood found the leveler through Conor McLaughlin.
After the Barnsley defenders failed to deal properly with a cross from a free-kick, the Cod Army's number two was able to fire home on the half volley from the edge of the box to score a very well taken goal.
Both sides struggled to hold possession for the following stages of the half and the Reds' next real chance came after 25 minutes when Hourihane this time found space to shoot from outside the box.
Despite forcing the Fleetwood keeper into action, the shot may have not been the best option as several other Reds players were supporting the midfielder in the attack.
With around fifteen minutes left in the half, Hourihane again was looking dangerous around the visitor's area and he had another chance to hit the target from distance but his effort curled wide of the post at the last moment.
Not long after, the Reds went behind in the game, much against the run of play considering Barnsley had seen much of the action.
Again failing to deal with a set-piece, a corner from Fleetwood found its way to the back post where Liam McAlinden was waiting to fire into what was essentially an open net.
Trying desperately hard to find the equaliser in the run up to the break, the Reds flooded the Fleetwood box but nothing came from the persistence.
Second Half-
The second period matched the first in the sense that it got off to a quick start and on 50 minutes Kane Hemmings created a chance by running the ball to the line and cutting inside for a pass across goal.
In what surely would have resulted in a goal, the Reds were denied as Fleetwood's Steven Jordan cleared the pass over his own bar, narrowly avoiding scoring an own goal.
Minutes later on the break, the Reds surged towards the Fleetwood goal with Ben Pearson at the heart of the attack.
Choosing to try and feed a ball through to Hemmings, the striker got mixed up in possession and the chance went away as he was unable to control the pass.
Bringing on Alex Kiwomya to try and add something different to the Barnsley attack, Danny Wilson's side started to explore different ways back into the game with around an hour played.
On 70 minutes the Reds had a golden chance to get themselves back in the game. Substitute George Smith delivered a fantastic cross from the left hand side that looked perfect for Hemmings but frustratingly the attacker couldn't make contact.
Winning a free-kick with ten minutes left on the clock after Kiwomya was fouled on the left, Josh Scowen delivered the cross but Nyatanga was unable to keep his header down after making space for himself between the defenders.
Hemmings had another chance to find the equaliser as the game entered its final minutes. Pearson's ball in from the right found the striker on the edge of the six yard box but the keeper was quick off his line to meet the ball.
Teams:
Reds: Turnbull, Nyatanga, Craine (C), Scowen, Hourihane (77), Hemmings, M'Voto (45), Ramage, Pearson, Lalkovic (60), Waring.
Subs: Davies, Jennings (77), Smith (45), Holgate, Bailey, Lita, Kiwomya (60).
Fleetwood: Maxwell, McLaughlin, Roberts, Hughes, Evans, Morris, Ball (73), Jordan, Haughton (63), McAlinden (81), Crainey.
Subs: Springthorpe, Murdoch (73), Pond, Dobbie, Sarcevic (63), Hornby-Forbes, Hunter (81).
Referee: David Coote
Attendance: 8328 (89 Away)
