A blistering first half Barnsley performance blew away Hull City here at the MKM Stadium tonight.
Strikes from Callum Styles and Carlton Morris in a dominant opening 45 for Barnsley saw Poya Asbaghi's side to a much-needed three points.
The Reds, with Morrocan midfield maestro Amine Bassi back from injury and pulling the strings got off to a promising start on Humberside, penning their hosts in and could have been comfortably ahead long before eventually taking the lead.
Impressive stuff from Domingos Quina in and around the Tigers' penalty area saw him tease his way into a shooting position, eight yards out but he was seemingly upended by a Hull defender before he could pull the trigger, but referee, Steve Martin was having none of it.
Soon after, Bassi was played in through on goal by Claudio Gomes but after dinking the ball over the advancing goalkeeper and into the net, the flag was raised for offside.
Quina again broke into the box and this time let fly with his left foot, but Harvey Cartwright, making his full debut in the Tigers' goal repelled the fierce effort and Mads Andersen couldn't get to the rebound before a defender cleared behind.
The goal that the Reds deserved came on 27 minutes, as they capitalised on some lax defending 30 yards from goal, with Morris eventually pulling the ball back across the box for Styles to sidefoot into the top right corner from 10 yards.
Styles and then Gomes soon tested Cartwright in the home goal once more, but the Tigers hung on for dear life. The young Hull 'keeper then dropped a speculative long-range Bassi drive before regaining his composure.
The Tigers saw Keane Lewis-Potter curl a 25-yard effort over the crossbar of Brad Collins, as we headed towards the half-time interval, before Asbaghi's men got a priceless second goal to take into the break.
An Andersen free-kick was lofted towards the box, Styles did enough to unsettle the defenders who could only head the ball down into the path of a charging Morris who powered into the City box and rifled in a terrific goal from 15 yards out to double the Reds' lead.
HALF-TIME: Hull City 0-2 Barnsley
If the first half was spectacular, the second was more of a solid display. Barnsley still looked lively, still drove forward when necessary but they also had a lead to protect and did so in a pleasing manner.
Continuing to be a threat down the left with the marauding Rémy Vita and trick Quina, it was the latter who scampered into the box and looked certain to test Cartwright only for a great sliding challenge from Jacob Greaves to prevent the shot reaching goal.
As we entered the final quarter, Hull had a huge opportunity to get back into the match as substitute Tyler Smith, who looked offside initially saw himself through one-on-one with Collins but the Reds' stopper denied the striker with his legs to maintain his clean sheet.
The outstanding Matty Wolfe received a standing ovation for his performance, replaced by Josh Benson, the Reds fans serenaded Bassi as he made way for Callum Brittain and then finally, the Barnsley faithful got right behind the appearance of final sub, Devante Cole who took the place of Styles, who'd got the victory in motion 60 minutes earlier.
Whilst the news of a Reading victory dampened the mood a touch, tonight saw a display and attitude that lifts hopes as we head into the weekend clash with Middlesbrough, as the Reds finally picked up a first away win of the season.
FULL-TIME: Hull City 0-2 Barnsley
Collins, Williams, Andersen, Helik, Styles (Cole), Vita, Gomes, Wolfe (Benson), Bassi (Brittain), Quina, Morris.
Unused: Walton, Halme, Hondermarck, Moon.