A terrible start cost Barnsley in a 3-1 loss at third-placed Aston Villa on Saturday, ending their run of four games unbeaten.
Most of the action took place early on as former Reds trialist Scott Hogan netted in the fifth and seventh minutes then, after Dimitri Cavare replied with his first goal for Barnsley, ex Oakwell captain Conor Hourihane made it 3-1 on 19 minutes.
Barnsley matched their high-flying hosts for the final 70 minutes, creating plenty of chances to halve the deficit, but they were defeated for the first time in five league games and have only won one in 13.
The Reds remain 19th, two points clear of the relegation zone with 27 from 28 games.
Paul Heckingbottom made three changes to the side that drew with leaders Wolves a week earlier, as dropping out were Adam Hammill, the injured Lloyd Isgrove and Gary Gardner who could not play against the club he was on loan from. Coming in were Jason McCarthy, who played as one of the three centre-backs, George Moncur and full debutant Kieffer Moore.
In the absence of Gardner and suspended Joe Williams, Heckingbottom played his three remaining central midfielders Stevie Mallan – who played the most deep – Brad Potts and George Moncur. He used a 3-5-2 formation with Dimitri Cavare and Andy Yiadom wing-backs, while there were three centre-backs and two strikers in Tom Bradshaw and Moore.
The visitors got off to the worst possible start as Hogan – who had a failed trial at Oakwell under Keith Hill in 2012 – tapped in from five yards out after five minutes as he met a fine cross from the right. It was 2-0 two minutes later as the same player turned in a right-wing corner from close range.
But another set piece got the Reds back into it as Cavare powered in an excellent header from Mallan's impressive right-wing corner after 12 minutes. The hosts re-established their two-goal lead when Jack Grealish produced a good run and low cross from the left and Conor Hourihane fired in a low shot on the right of the box to make it 3-1 on 19 minutes.
It was almost 4-1 midway through the first half but James Chester headed a Robert Snodgrass free-kick wide. Adam Davies then got down low to his left to deny Snodgrass' low effort from the edge of the box. Davies then beat away a 15-yard shot by Grealish who had yards of space in the area following a short corner.
Bradshaw headed a Cavare cross well wide in first half stoppage time but the Reds went into the break 3-1 down.
McCarthy was replaced by Hammill at the interval, with Barnsley reverting to 4-4-2 with Potts and Hammill wide of Mallan and Moncur. Moore headed a Cavare cross straight at Villa goalkeeper Johnstone then Hogan missed a superb chance for his hat-trick as he smashed a shot off the top of the left post following a good run and pull-back by Albert Adomah.
Hourihane should have scored a second but fired wide from the edge of the box following a counter-attack which started when Hogan outmuscled the much bigger Ethan Pinnock on the halfway line.
Moore then should have made it 3-2 as he went clean through after a missed Chester header but was denied from a tight angle by his former Yeovil club-mate Johnstone. Then the same player blazed from 15 yards over after cutting past several players on the left.
Bradshaw then went through one-on-one after Moore cushioned a good Mallan pass into his path but Johnstone got down well to his right to save. Mallan floated in another good right-wing free-kick but Mamadou Thiam headed wide from a tight angle at the back post.
Dylan Mottley-Henry, one of three youngsters on the bench along with Matty Wolfe and Jacob Brown, came on for his Reds debut.
Barnsley team: Davies; McCarthy (Hammill HT), Pinnock, Lindsay; Cavare, Potts (Mottley-Henry 68mins), Mallan, Moncur, Yiadom; Moore (Thiam 73mins), Bradshaw.
ALL THE ACTION AS IT HAPPENED
16:59pm: Barnsley actually matched their high-flying hosts for most of this match and created as many chances, but some poor defending in the first 19 minutes cost them badly as they went 3-1 down and could never recover
16:57pm: FULL-TIME: Villa 3, Barnsley 1
16:52pm: 90 Scott Hogan, who did all the damage early on, is off for youngster Keinan Davies
16:49pm: 86 Both sets of fans applaud Conor Hourihane on his way off to be replaced by Paul Heckingbottom's former Sheffield Wednesday team-mate Glenn Whelan as Villa hope to see the game out
16:48pm: Just a few minutes left now. Barnsley still need two goals for an unlikely point
16:46pm: 83 Cavare looked to be fouled by home sub Josh Onomah on his way into the box but it comes to nothing as Grealish and Snodgrass both cannot convert in the goalmouth scramble
16:44pm: 82 Snodgrass hits a powerful 25-yard free-kick straight at Davies who parries the ball up into the air and then catches it
16:43pm: 81 Pinnock brings down Grealish on the edge of the box and is booked
16:41pm: Barnsley have been the better team for about 20 minutes but have nothing to show for it.
16:40pm: 76 Stevie Mallan's free-kicks have been impressive all afternoon and he swings one in from the right which is headed wide at the back post by Thiam. It was a tight angle but Barnsley need to take a chance soon if they are to get something from this game
16:35pm: 73 Thiam on for Moore, who really should have scored at least one on his first Barnsley start.
16:33pm: 71 A bit of pushing and shoving from Cavare and Grealish in the Reds box. They continue it into the middle of the pitch and are both told off by referee Scott Duncan
16:31pm: Mottley-Henry is a 20-year-old winger who joined the Reds from Bradford in 2016 and has been on loan to Tranmere. He signed a new two-year contract last week
16:30pm: 68 Dylan Mottley-Henry makes his Barnsley debut as a substitute for Potts
16:29pm: This has been a good few minutes for the Reds but will those missed chances cost them? Still 3-1 Villa
16:28pm: 65 Tom Bradshaw goes through after good work by Mallan and Moore but Johnstone makes another good save diving to his right.
16:26pm: 63 Another good chance for Moore as he cuts past several defenders as he came in from the left but blazes over from ten yards
16:25pm: 62 Kieffer Moore goes through on goal after Chester misses a header but he cannot beat his former Yeovil club-mate Johnstone from a tight angle on the left
16:24pm: Villa are having plenty of possession in the Reds half, dragging their visitors all over the place and waiting for an opening. But it's still not all over at 3-1
16:21pm: 59 Sub Hammill has a shot from 30 yards. It would have been a world class goal but it's a couple of feet away from the top left corner.
16:17pm: 54 Hourihane fires wide from the edge of the box after Villa had plenty of men overlapping on the counter-attack. It all came about because Pinnock was outmuscled by the much smaller Hogan
16:15pm: 52 Hogan so close to a hat-trick as he gets a pull-back from Adomah after a great run on the left and smashes a close range shot off the top of the left post with Davies beaten
16:13pm: 50 Cavare lets a cross bounce over his head in the box but Adomah sees it late and cannot head towards goal
16:11pm: 49 Moore heads a Cavare cross but he is 15 yards out and Johnstone stoops to catch easily
16:10pm: Mallan and Moncur are now the central two, with Hammill on the left and Potts on the right
16:08pm: SECOND HALF UNDERWAY
16:08pm: Jason McCarthy has been replaced by Adam Hammill, with Barnsley going back to 4-4-2.
16:07pm: The players are coming back out here. The next goal is surely crucial. If Villa get it, it could be a big loss for the Reds but if Barnsley get it, it's game on
15:50pm: HALF-TIME: Villa 3, Barnsley 1.
15:50pm: 45+1 Bradshaw heads a Cavare cross well wide
15:48pm: Three minutes of added time here
15:48pm: 44 T he fans enjoy the referee crashing into Grealish and falling over, but Pinnock then has to cut out and good low cross
15:46pm: 43 Villa defenders and goalkeeper confidently passing around their box with Moore and Bradshaw's pressing proving futile
15:43pm: 41 Kieffer M0ore is booked after clashing with Bjarnason who spent a while on the floor
15:42pm: Just a few minutes until half-time. Can the Reds pull one back before the break? Currently 3-1 Villa
15:39pm: Stevie Mallan's free-kicks and corners look the best route to a Barnsley goal. Cavare was just close to meeting another but a defender just beat him to it
15:38pm: 35 again Grealish has ten yards of the space in the box following a short corner. His shot is beaten away by Davies
15:36pm: Since then it has settled down a bit with both sides having a few attacks. but Barnsley look much more vulnerable at the back
15:36pm: (continued) Hourihane made it 3-1 after 19 minutes
15:35pm: So t0 recap, Scott Hogan netted in the fifth and seventh minute, Cavare pulled one back with his first goal in English football but former Reds captain Hurih
15:35pm: So t0 recap, Scott Hogan netted in the fifth and seventh minute, Cavare pulled one back with his first goal in English football but former Reds captain Hurih
15:32pm: The problem with a 3-5-2 is that you can get in between the back three and wing-backs. Villa have done that a lot and bombarded the Reds box with crosses which have caused real problems
15:32pm: 29 Cavare great run on the right, pulled in back for Bradshaw but his 12-yard shot was blocked
15:29pm: 25 Another scramble in the Reds box. Villa have a ridiculous amount of space and time in the visitors' area, with Davies seemingly unwilling to claim crosses and defenders unable to clear them. Davies now saves from Snodgrass.
15:26pm: 23 Could have been four but James Chester heads a Snodgrass free-kick wide
15:23pm: Hourihane's celebration was slightly muted but it's a big goal for Villa who are back in charge again
15:22pm: Good play by Jack Grealish on the left wing, he fired a low ball across the area and Hourihane – the former Reds skipper – was there to shoot in low 12 yards out
15:21pm: 19 Villa 3, Barnsley 1
15:20pm: Still 2-1 to the hosts but Barnsley have responded really well to that bad start
15:19pm: 17 Mallan's corner is cleared this time and so is his follow-up cross
15:19pm: 17 Another corner won by Moore after great Moncur run on the counter attack
15:16pm: The Reds needed to get something back as they looked all over the place early on. Now it's game on
15:15pm: A very powerful header from a good Mallan corner. And that's really woken the visiting fans up
15:14pm: 12 - Villa 2, Barnsley 1. Cavare with his first for the club
15:13pm: There will be a lot of inquests into how Hogan managed to be so free to turn in those crosses, but for now the shell-shocked Reds have to get a foothold in the game. Kieffer Moore has won a corner
15:11pm: Barnsley do not look like a team who have kept four clean sheets in six games
15:10pm: Another cross from the right, this time a corner, and Hogan is there to net from close range
15:09pm: 7 - Villa 2, Barnsley 0. Scott Hogan again
15:09pm: A good cross from the right and Hogan was totally free to tap in from close range
15:08pm: 5 - Villa 1, Barnsley 0. Former Reds trials Scott Hogan
15:07pm: 4 - Barnsley have the first effort on target as Brad Potts comes in from the left and has a 20-yard effort which is comfortably saved by the goalkeeper Sam Johnstone
15:03pm: It's snowing here. Not that heavily and not settling, but there is plenty in the air
15:03pm: There has been a minute's applause for former Villa striker Cyrille Regis, and now the game has kicked off
14:53pm: Barnsley have announced a bit of transfer news in the last 24 hours, with Spanish left-back Daniel Pinillos joining from Cordoba, while Shaun Tuton has returned to his former club Halifax Town on loan.
14:52pm: Barnsley have not conceded in the league in 2018, winning 1-0 at Sunderland on New Year’s Day and then drawing 0-0 with leaders Wolves a week ago. They have kept four clean sheets in their last six Championship matches, after only two in the previous 29. Villa are also defensively tight having conceded the third fewest goals in the league.
14:33pm: One of the highlights of Paul Heckingbottom’s playing career was when he scored at Villa Park in the FA Cup for ‘lucky losers’ Darlington, who had been knocked out but reinstated as there was a spare place after Manchester United withdrew for the Club World Cup. He smashed in after David James had saved a penalty while the Villa team who won 2-1 that day also included Benito Carbone, Dion Dublin, Gareth Southgate, Gareth Barry and Paul Merson.
14:29pm: Because of the absence of Williams and Everton loanee Gardner, this will be the first time Barnsley have named a matchday squad with no loan players in it since the home League Cup loss to Crewe Alexandra in 2014, when Paul Heckingbottom was in Danny Wilson’s dugout. He was the under 23s boss the last time Barnsley played a league game with no loanees which was when the Reds lost a 2-0 lead in a 2-2 draw with Charlton Athletic in August 2013.
14:29pm: Villa have an excellent record against Barnsley, winning 14 of the 18 meetings including a 3-0 success at Oakwell on Sky on September 16 earlier this season. But the Reds have won on their last two visits to Villa Park with Ashley Ward netting the Premiership winner in 1998 then a Tom Bradshaw brace inspiring a 3-1 success on Valentine’s Day last year after Adam Armstrong had opened the scoring with a penalty.
14:28pm: Former Barnsley captain Conor Hourihane starts for Villa. Oakwell academy graduate James Bree is again not in the squad. Former reds trialist Scott Hogan also starts. The £9.5million signing from Brentford has netted in each of his last two matches after none in 18.
14:27pm: Joe Williams is suspended while loanee Gary Gardner cannot play against his parent club Villa. Head coach Paul Heckingbottom – who joked on thursday that he might play assistant Jamie Clapham – has gone with the attack-minded trio of Brad Potts, George Moncur and Stevie Mallan.
14:14pm: So youngsters Dylan Mottley-Henry, Jacob Brown and Matty Wolfe are all on the bench, with Paul Heckingbottom having just 16 first team players to choose from
14:13pm: Aston Villa team: Johnstone; Elmohamady, Terry, Chester, Hutton; Adomah, Bjarnason, Snodgrass, Hourihane, Grealish; Hogan. Subs: Bunn, Taylor, Whelan, Lansbury, Onomah, Elphick, Davis.
14:11pm: Subs: Townsend, Pearson, Thiam, Hammill, Mottley-Henry, Brown, Wolfe.
14:10pm: Barnsley have changed to a 3-5-2 with wing-backs. Team: Davies; McCarthy, Pinnock, Lindsay; Cavare, Potts, Mallan, Moncur, Yiadom; Moore, Bradshaw.
13:54pm: Good afternoon and welcome to the Chronicle's coverage of Barnsley's game at Aston Villa in a snowy Birmingham
