Barnsley fought gallantly against newly promoted Huddersfield Town, but slipped to a 1-0 defeat at home to the Terriers.
Steve Mounie latched onto Jonas Lossl’s 89th minute punt forward, before chipping Adam Davies to earn the visitors the spoils.
Davies had kept the Reds in the contest in the second half, after making fine saves to deny Chris Lowe and Colin Quaner, with a curling Adam Hammill effort and a Stefan Payne header the closest the Reds came to a breakthrough in a scrappy affair.
Sean Scannell’s looping header struck the top of the crossbar late on as the match seemed destined to finish goalless, only for the French forward to nip in with the winner.
Both sides struggled to create clear chances in a drab first half. Stefan Payne almost grabbed the opener midway through the half as he nodded Alex Mowatt’s header at goal, only for a stunning Lossl save to deny him.
Mowatt dragged the ball wide from the edge of the area following a clever free kick routine with Adam Hammill, before Town’s Phil Billing sent a rasping drive just over the top from 25 yards.
Joe Lolley also chanced his arm from distance in the final moments of the first half, but failed to find the target as the teams went in level at the break.
HALF TIME: Barnsley 0-0 Huddersfield
Lolley began the second half with a mazy run, jinking past Reds players on his way into the area before taking aim, but Angus MacDonald produced a stunning block to keep the winger out.
Chris Lowe cut inside from the left and tested Davies once more with a low effort, the Welsh stopper parrying the effort away to safety.
Hammill’s attempt to get the Reds ahead culminated in a ferocious effort that had Lossl scrambling across his line, unfortunately for the winger, his luck was just out.
Davies was on hand again to make two fine saves in three minutes, both from Colin Quaner. The striker’s close range effort was superbly turned behind by Davies, before blocking his effort on the run.
Substitute Sean Scannell’s looping header from Lowe’s cross bounced away to safety off the top of the bar as the Reds continued to repel the Huddersfield attacks.
However Lossl’s monster kick forward in the final minute saw Mounie escape his marker and clip the ball over the head of Davies to edge out the Reds in the cruellest circumstances.
FULL TIME: Barnsley 0-1 Huddersfield
REDS XI: Davies; Yiadom, MacDonald, Lindsay, Fryers; Mowatt, Moncur, Williams (Mallan), Hammill; Ugbo (Brown), Payne (Bradshaw).
