An excellent Slobodan Tedic header five minutes from time earned Barnsley a huge three points at Adams Park.
Three points secured in the dying stages against Wycombe Wanderers this afternoon maintains the Reds' outstanding run of form at the business end of this 22/23 season.
As you'd expect away at Adams Park, the hosts were physical, direct and giving the Reds very little time on the ball. The first half wasn't a great spectacle, with lots of stoppages and the ball out of play for large spells.
One of those stoppages came about inside the opening five minutes when Josh Scowen came off second best in an aerial duel with Mads Andersen. The former Barnsley midfielder received treatment for four minutes, resulting in a bandaged head.
Despite the scrappy and unattractive football on show, the Reds did carve out a couple of decent opportunities, with Max Watters not taking advantage of the best chance when he was played through on goal by strike partner, James Norwood.
The on-loan forward burst into the box, left of centre, but his left-footed shot was tame and straight at Chairboys' goalkeeper, Max Stryek.
Our own number one, Harry Isted had to be sharp to get a finger on a low and hard cross from the left, diverting the ball out of the reach of onrushing striker Brandon Hanlan, who would have surely tapped in.
And the stopper got down well soon after to parry away a long-range effort from Lewis Wing, but the ball fell kindly for Chem Campbell who somehow blazed the rebound over with the goal at his mercy.
There were three bookings for Barnsley men Liam Kitching, Bobby Thomas and Watters during a tough first half in the High Wycombe sunshine.
HALF-TIME: Wycombe Wanderers 0-0 Barnsley
Head Coach, Michael Duff sent his side out very early ahead of the second period and his team reacted quickly, forcing the home side back in the opening five minutes of the half. That pressure almost paid off when Adam Phillips found space wide on the right and looked to have picked out Watters at the near post.
But the striker was again off target, glancing his header just wide of the opposite post. Both he and Norwood were soon replaced by Devante Cole and Slobodan Tedic as the Reds began to find more room in the channels.
It was a familiar story though, regardless. The Chairboys continued to go long at all times and Barnsley were struggling to find the time to get the ball down and implement their own passing game in the final third.
Wycombe forced a number of corners and set-plays, each one testing the Reds' rearguard, but the backline held strong, ably assisted by Isted who was assured as ever, claiming a number of high balls with bodies all around him.
The likes of Ziyad Larkeche, Josh Benson and Luke Thomas all made introductions in the final quarter, and it was the latter who helped Barnsley find the breakthrough with just five minutes remaining in the match.
Great feet by Cole saw Luke Thomas take over and he drove into the box, to the left and his inch-perfect cross was hung up nicely for Tedic to power home into the roof of the net from eight yards or so.
Cue the bedlam behind the goal, as over a thousand Reds fans celebrated what they hoped would be the winner in this crunch play-off clash.
There was still time for a handful more set-pieces to deal with defensively, which were mopped up with minimum fuss, as Barnsley extended their unbeaten run to 11 league fixtures, nine of those victories, ahead of Tuesday night's South Yorkshire derby against Sheffield Wednesday at a sold-out Oakwell.
FULL-TIME: Wycombe Wanderers 0-1 Barnsley
Isted, Williams, B.Thomas, Andersen, Kitching, Cadden (Larkeche), Phillips (J.Benson), Connell, Kane (L.Thomas), Norwood (Cole), Watters (Tedic).
Unused: Collins, Russell.
