Goals from Owen Dale and Oliver Casey for Blackpool sunk the Reds in a 2-0 defeat at Oakwell in the Sky Bet Championship on Tuesday evening.
Despite hitting the crossbar and coming close on other occasions, the Reds fell to defeat in Martin Devaney’s first game as interim head coach.
After our defeat at Huddersfield Town on Friday evening, the Reds came into this clash knowing their fate was sealed.
Blackpool had drawn 1-1 with in-form Luton Town last time out, with the Seasiders residing in 16th position in the table before tonight's clash.
The Reds had the first real chance of the match after 15 minutes. Nice interplay between captain, Cauley Woodrow and Callum Brittain - playing as a right wing-back - allowed the latter to deliver a deep ball to Rémy Vita at the back post. The Frenchman controlled the ball well inside the area, but then blazed an ambitious effort over the bar.
Our visitors started to grow into the affair, and almost took the lead after a scramble inside the box. Liam Kitching almost directed a menacing low cross from Charlie Kirk into his own net, but Jack Walton managed to get a touch to divert the ball to safety.
On his full debut, Isaac Christie-Davies tried his luck just after the half-hour mark. A corner broke out to the midfielder on the edge of the area, but his volleyed effort lacked any real conviction, failing to trouble Chris Maxwell in the Tangerines’ goal.
Shortly after, the away side took a lead their play had merited. A threaded through-ball found Dale on the right, who drove into the area, cut inside, leaving his defenders on the floor before finishing with real aplomb into the bottom left corner five minutes before the break.
HALF-TIME: Barnsley 0-1 Blackpool
The restart brought no real change in fortunes for the Reds, but like the first half, it was they who carved out the first opportunity of the half.
After Christie-Davies got to the byline on the right, he cut the ball back nicely for Woodrow who took a touch and then struck an effort from the right hand side of the box, with the ball taking a wicked deflection which sent the ball spinning towards Maxwell’s top right-hand corner, but the ‘keeper was equal to it, tipping it over the crossbar.
Martin Devaney turned to his bench just after the hour-mark, with Christie-Davies and Woodrow being replaced by Will Hondermarck and Victor Adeboyejo respectively.
However, Blackpool doubled their lead just a couple of minutes later. A free-kick was swung into the box from the left, headed across goal by Marvin Ekpiteta and Casey was there to dispatch with a side-footed volley from close range, as Walton got fingers to it but to no avail.
Walton was there to deny Blackpool a third when he parried away Matty Virtue's powerful strike from just inside the box, to the right of goal.
In an attempt to salvage something from the affair, Devaney played his final roll of the dice and introduced homegrown forward Aiden Marsh, replacing Carlton Morris.
His cameo breathed some life into the latter stages, and Matty Wolfe found space centrally before he unleashed a ferocious strike from 20 yards, but the effort smashed against the crossbar and rebounded to safety for the visitors.
The visitors also struck the woodwork themselves when Jake Beesley thudded a shot against the foot of the post, as the Seasiders looked to seal a good evening's work.
And despite the Reds applying increasing pressure on the Blackpool back-line in the closing stages, the Tangerines held firm and the Reds had to accept yet another defeat here on home soil.
FULL-TIME: Barnsley 0-2 Blackpool
Walton, Styles, Kitching, Andersen, Brittain, Woodrow (Adeboyejo), Morris (Marsh), Moon, Christie-Davies (Hondermarck), Vita, Wolfe.
Unused: Jinadu, Palmer, Ariely.
