Our U21s were beaten 3-1 in the Professional Development League by Ipswich Town on Tuesday afternoon.
Barnsley were made to rue two missed penalties in the first half, with Aiden Marsh and Theo Chapman both unsuccessful from 12-yards.
Emmanuel Okunowo and Harry Barbrook's early strikes set the visitors on their way to victory, which was sealed late on by Oli Davis, despite Marsh pulling one back for the Reds.
Tom Harban's side started the affair well and threatened the Tractor Boys' defence almost instantaneously. Kyran Lofthouse drove into the area and was brought down leaving the referee with no other option than to point to the spot.
Marsh stepped up and fired an effort towards the bottom left corner but it was met by Henry Gray, who pushed wide and his defenders cleared the danger.
Shortly after the penalty miss, Ipswich had the lead when Okunowo improvised cleverly in the box to flick home a bouncing ball following a corner in the 10th minute.
Barbrook then doubled their lead just a minute later to deliver a cruel blow to the Reds' chances of salvaging anything from the game.
However, we were handed a lifeline just before the break, with Lofthouse once again causing problems on the right and being brought down in the area. The referee pointed to the spot and Chapman this time stepped up, only to sidefoot wide of the post.
HALF-TIME: Barnsley 0-2 Ipswich Town
The Reds flew out of the blocks after the restart and should have pegged Ipswich back. An attempted clearance from a visiting defender ricocheted onto the post, the bar was struck only for the phase of play to end as the ball was skied over the bar by a Reds attacker.
With the woodwork still rattling from the last attempt, the recently introduced Josiah Dyer crashed a header onto the upright from a teasing Hayden Pickard delivery just before the hour mark.
We continued to knock on the door until Marsh made a breakthrough 15 minutes from time, controlling well and calmly slotting home amongst a sea of bodies in the area.
Despite the hopes of a Barnsley revival, the visitors put the final nail in the coffin with a goal on the counter-attack finished by Davis five minutes from time.
FULL-TIME: Barnsley 1-3 Ipswich Town
REDS XI: Flavell (GK), Lofthouse, Joof (Benjamin), James, D Benson, Pickard, Trialist A (Yoganathan), Nejman (C), Chapman, Dyer, (Nzondo), Marsh.
Not used: Ravenhill (GK), Doyle.
