Goals from Callum Styles and Devante Cole in Northampton secured another victory on the road for Neill Collins' side.
In a closely-contested affair, the Reds had to be clinical this afternoon, and a goal at the start and another towards the end of the game were enough to bring three points back to Barnsley, despite the Cobblers' late strike and heavy pressure.
The Reds started the game well, on the front foot. There was nearly a chance within the first 30 seconds as Devante Cole broke into the box to the left a little, but Sam Sherring recovered well to thwart Barnsley's top goalscorer as he looked to cross.
But, on five minutes we did make the most of that positive start. A backpass caught out Town goalie Lee Burge whose first touch was poor, and eventual clearance even more-so, as it dropped to Styles 20 yards from goal, to the left, who - first-time - returned the ball with interest on the volley, the ball sailing into the empty net.
We had Liam Roberts to thank on two occasions in the first 45. His first save, low to his right in denying a Jon Guthrie header, and the second stop was to his left, diving full length to turn behind a spectacular hit on the volley by Mitch Pinnock.
Adam Phillips was given a yellow card for what looked a very clumsy challenge that on another day could have seen him dismissed.
The half ended after Owen Dodgson looked to have been bundled over inside the box, but the officials had no interest in the penalty claims.
HALF TIME: Northampton Town 0-1 Barnsley
After a couple of very bizarre yellow cards given to Corey O'Keeffe and Kacper Łopata, the first chance of the second half came when Herbie Kane tried his luck from 25 yards but the effort took a nick on its way through and was turned behind by Burge.
On 73 minutes, one of Neill Collins' substitutes, Barry Cotter did well on the right to pull the ball back perfectly into the path of Styles but the Hungarian international's shot was weak, 12 yards out, on his right foot, comfy for Burge to gather in goal.
Just a few minutes later and Dodgson's wicked free-kick was headed against the bar by Cole before Jamie McCart saw himself the next Reds player to enter the referee's notebook for an innocuous challenge on halfway.
But the goal the Reds craved to kill off the contest arrived in the 88th minute, and it was that man Cole again, grabbing his 9th goal in nine league games when he sprinted from his own half on the counter attack before finding the top corner, one-on-one despite Burge getting a hand to the shot.
The clash wasn't killed off, however. When the Reds were reduced to 10 men entering stoppage time with Łopata unable to continue following an arm injury, the hosts struck in the eighth minute of added time, with substitute Louis Appéré beating the offside trap and finishing with confidence, when played through on goal.
Despite seven minutes being indicated, the ref played until the 101st minute, with Barnsley hanging on for dear life under extreme pressure.
But the final whistle arrived, as did another big three points for the Reds.
FULL TIME: Northampton Town 1-2 Barnsley
Roberts, O'Keeffe (Cotter), Williams, Łopata, McCart, Dodgson (Cadden), Kane, Phillips (Russell), Styles, Cole (McAtee), Cosgrove (Watters).
Unused: Killip, Shepherd.
