Reds 1 (Ibehre 79)
Preston 1 (Garner 36)
After going behind in the first half to a goal from Joe Garner, the Reds fought back and equalised through Jabo Ibehre with 11 minutes left to play as the unbeaten run was stretched to 8 games in League One.
Facing one of the biggest tests of their unbeaten run today, the Reds started the game well and appeared to be on the front foot in the opening minutes.
After five minutes the Reds were awarded a free-kick around 20 yards from goal after George Waring was fouled.
Taken by John O'Sullivan on his final appearance for the Reds, his low shot rebounded off the wall and the ball found its way back to the centre of the pitch.
Cameron Stewart on his debut created next chance, whipping in an excellent cross after some fine skill.
Forcing Preston into conceding a corner, the resulting delivery was met by Sam Winnall but his header went wide of the goal.
Desperately looking for a goal on his final Barnsley appearance, O'Sullivan then hit the post from 25 yards with around 10 minutes played.
Preston did not fade away however and the visitors should have taken the lead when Joe Garner chested down a cross from the left but Adam Davies in the Barnsley goal pulled off a fantastic save to deny the attacker.
Right back down the other end, Hourihane whipped in a good free-kick to the far post and Martin Cranie looked as though he was going to get a tap-in but the Reds captain could not find the goal.
Adam Davies continued to impress in the Barnsley goal and on the half-hour mark he pulled off two good saves, one after the other, from a Preston corner.
After a strong period of play from Barnsley, Preston took the lead on 36 minutes through top scorer Joe Garner.
The attacker found the loose ball and prodded home after the Reds defence failed to clear it following a corner.
Second Half-
Looking to get right back into things, the Reds came out for the second half and after five minutes they had a golden chance to grab an equaliser.
It was Hourihane's deliver as usual that caused the initial problem for Preston and Martin Cranie met the ball but his header went only inches over the bar.
Cameron Stewart was the next that could have got the Reds back on track.
After Declan John pulled the ball back across the face of goal, the on-loan Ipswich man had the whole goal to aim at but could not keep his shot down.
With 55 minutes played it looked for a second as though Preston had doubled their lead after a scuffle in the box ended with the ball in the back of the net.
The goal was not to stand however as the referee pulled play back for a foul.
Still behind with less than 20 minutes left on the clock, Lee Johnson sought to change his side around in the hope of preserving the unbeaten run.
Introducing Jabo Ibehre and Dale Jennings, the Reds side took on a different look for the final part of the game with Sam Winnall playing a more central role.
The substitutes worked well for the Reds and Jabo Ibehre was the man at the centre of the celebrations when he got the side back on terms after heading low past Sam Johnstone in the Preston goal.
With all three points now up for grabs, the atmosphere of the game changed and Oakwell burst back into life.
A free-kick with three minutes to go presented the Reds with a big chance to get in front and they would have done exactly that had Johnstone not punched the ball away.
A nervous final few minutes passed by before the referee ended the game with the scores level.
Reds: Davies, Holgate, Cranie (C), Nyatanga, John, Waring (73), Winnall, Hourihane, O'Sullivan (86), Bailey, Stewart (73).
Subs: Dibblle, M'Voto, Ibehre (73), Smith, Berry, Hemmings (86), Jennings (73).
Preston North End: Johnstone, Laird, Clarke, Wright, Beckford (84), Gallagher, Garner, Welsh, Huntington, Johnson, Robinson (65).
Subs: Stuckmann, Humphrey (65), Kilkenny, Davies, Woods, Little (84), Ebanks-Blake.
Referee: Eddie Ilderton
Attendance: 12,471 (2927 Away)
