Martin Devaney’s side comfortably beat Crewe on home turf.
Two excellent strikes from Callum Styles, either side of a Sam Fielding free-kick and a poachers finish from Patrick Schmidt, saw the Reds add another impressive three points to their tally.
Submitting a strong line-up for the second match running, with players who have tasted previous first team action, Martin Devaney and his U23s side will have held high hopes going into the game.
After netting in the South Yorkshire derby victory over Sheffield Wednesday, both Sam Fielding and Patrick Schmidt retained their starting places, but fellow goalscorer Luke Thomas was withdrawn due to his recent first team involvement.
Further starts were handed to Jack Walton, Jordan Green, Ben Williams, Callum Styles, Clarke Oduor and Elliot Simoes, who have all also seen first team involvement this season.
The fans who attended the match were treated, despite the visitors going in front against the run of play. All of the early running was done by the Reds, with Romal Palmer and Dylan Mottley-Henry coming close early on. However, it was Crewe who went into the lead when Connor Heath netted from the edge of the box.
Just minutes later though, a needless handball from a member of the Crewe defence allowed Callum Styles to step up and wonderfully curl a free-kick into the top corner. Despite plenty more chances, it was level at half-time.
Half Time: Barnsley 1-1 Crewe
With the floodlights being turned on during the interval, Martin Devaney’s side followed suit and really turned it on for the second half as well. Another free-kick got the Reds ahead, this time as Sam Fielding fired home from the edge of the box (which can be viewed by clicking here). Crewe’s keeper will feel he could have done better, but the Reds had a 2-1 lead.
Shortly after taking the lead, Romal Palmer, who was lively throughout, would be taking an early bath. The midfielder had picked up a yellow card in the first half and was then shown his second for catching his man in the centre-circle. This left Devaney with thinking to do, with 35 minutes of the match still to play.
The man advantage for the visitors was not noticeable though, with only one side looking likely to add more goals. The trickery and pace of a forward line including Simoes, J. Green, Mottley-Henry and Patrick Schmidt was always going to cause problems and it was indeed Schmidt who added the third, with a neat close-range finish.
There was time for the impressive Styles to add another as the game approached its conclusion. The central-midfielder, who had controlled large parts of the match, exchanged passes and cut inside where he then hit an unstoppable right-footed effort into the bottom corner. It must be said, that Crewe did have chances of their own to make the score closer during the second half but Jack Walton was in impressive form to keep them out with a string of fine saves.
Full Time: Barnsley 4-1 Crewe Alexandra
Reds XI: Walton (GK), Green, Fielding, Pache, B. Williams, Mottley-Henry, Styles, Palmer, Oduor, Schmidt, Simoes.
Subs: Brown (GK), Gagen, Wollerton, Martin, Willard.
