Barnsley suffered a 1-0 defeat at Blackpool in the Sky Bet Championship on Saturday afternoon.
Shayne Lavery’s first half strike was enough to settle a disappointing encounter at Bloomfield Road.
The Reds made a bright start with a quick flowing move inside the opening seconds that swept from right to left across the pitch, with Ben Williams picking out Callum Brittain at the far post but his knockdown was hacked away.
In a frantic first 10 minutes, both sides were cheered on by their respective raucous supporters and Lavery forced Brad Collins into a smart save down to his left.
A well-worked corner routine almost led to the breakthrough as Josh Benson whipped a deep cross in for Liam Kitching to nod across the face. In the melee that ensued, Dominik Frieser’s half-volley nearly deflected into the path of Cauley Woodrow, only for some last ditch defending to clear for a throw-in.
Shortly after the half-hour mark, however, Blackpool took the lead when the ever-dangerous Lavery raced in behind before casually slotting into the bottom corner from close range.
The hosts had an excellent opportunity to double their advantage as Tyreece John-Jules skipped past a couple of challenges but was thwarted by an onrushing Collins.
Moments later, Victor Adeboyejo did superbly to create an opening, drove into the area and fired a low drive that Tangerines stopper Chris Maxwell expertly turned away as it arrowed into the far corner.
HALF-TIME: Blackpool 1-0 Barnsley
Markus Schopp introduced Clarke Oduor at the interval for Frieser in a bid to add a different dimension to our attack, while Aaron Leya Iseka joined the fray shortly after, replacing Adeboyejo.
The Reds carved out a couple of openings, with the always-willing Williams firing a dangerous low ball across the area that evaded everyone before Oduor wriggled free but dragged his shot wide from 18-yards out.
Neat, intricate play down the right flank resulted in another opening for Barnsley and substitute, Romal Palmer, played a lovely ball through for Woodrow, who saw his effort blocked by Maxwell.
With five minutes remaining, Woodrow floated in a corner that was met powerfully by Michał Helik, but the Pole’s header flew agonisingly past the upright as we continued to search for an elusive equaliser.
Leya Iseka was next to try his luck, only to be denied by a sprawling home defender who threw himself in front of the Belgian forward’s attempt.
In the dying embers, a loose ball fell to Helik who tried to find the bottom corner, but it trickled just wide. Try as they might, the Reds were unable to find a way through and left the Lancashire coast empty handed.
FULL-TIME: Blackpool 1-0 Barnsley
Collins, Moon, Helik, Kitching, Brittain, Benson (Palmer), Styles, B Williams, Frieser (Oduor), Woodrow, Adeboyejo (Leya Iseka).
Unused: Walton, J Williams, Sibbick, Gomes.
