A superb Harvey Barnes goal earned Barnsley a 1-1 draw with Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough in the Saturday lunchtime derby.
The hosts took the lead in bizarre circumstances on 34 minutes when Adam Reach slipped while shooting with his left foot from the edge of the box and the ball hit his right foot before floating into the left of the Barnsley net past the stranded Adam Davies who had moved in the other direction.
The Reds withstood a lot of pressure in the first half but Barnes levelled midway through the second period with a long-range screamer and the Reds looked the stronger team at the end. It was a decent point for Barnsley at a ground where they had lost on 12 of their previous 14 visits, and took them on to 13 from as many games this season.
Paul Heckingbottom made three changes from the team that lost 1-0 at home to Hull City the previous week. Mamadou Thiam made his first start for the Reds as he replaced Ike Ugbo while Andy Yiadom came back in for Zeki Fryers at left-back. Angus MacDonald took the place of the injured Adam Jackson. Former Sheffield Wednesday man Lloyd Isgrove was on the Barnsley bench for the first time this season.
Wednesday began on top for the first five minutes but only had a wayward Tom Lees header from a corner to show for it. Barnsley then settled and, after Tom Bradshaw breezed past Joost Van Aken to go through on goal but his touch slowed him down, Cameron McGeehan's low 25-yard effort was easily saved by Kieren Westwood.The Owls were soon on top again with some dangerous crosses causing Barnsley real problems.
The hosts had the perfect chance to take the lead after 13 minutes but Steven Fletcher kicked the ball against his standing foot when he had a clear sight on goal deep in the Reds box after Reach pulled the ball back to him. Lees then had another headed chance as he met a left-wing cross at the back post but Davies brilliantly denied him with a superb reaction save. MacDonald then produced a crucial clearing header from almost on his line when two Wednesday players looked likely to head in a right-wing cross.
The Reds still had opportunities as McGeehan was denied by Westwood again when his low 25-yard free-kick was tipped around the left post in the 26th minute, after Thiam had done superbly to bring down a long ball and win the foul.
Kieran Lee then rattled the Barnsley crossbar with a good 25-yard effort before Fletcher fired the rebound over under pressure from MacDonald. At the other end, Hammill shot straight at Westwood after a clearance went straight to him just outside the box after Harvey Barnes crossed.
The Owls eventually took the lead through Reach's lucky strike then almost added to it soon after when Davies once again denied Lees from a close-range back-post header after a left-wing cross by Barry Bannan.
Heckingbottom took Thiam off at half-time and brought on Brad Potts as the visitors changed to 4-1-4-1 in an effort to stop Wednesday's domination of most of the first half continuing.
Wednesday almost doubled their lead ten minutes after the interval but Yiadom cleared off the lead after Bannan's cross looked certain to either go in or by tapped home by an Owl. Barnes came very close to levelling when he latched onto a Bradshaw header, powered into the home box from the left and had a shot from a very tight angle which hit the underside of the bar before bouncing out.
The Leicester loanee eventually found the net on 67 minutes with a superb 20-yard shot into the top left corner after an excellent run. He then sprinted the full length of the pitch to celebrate with the away fans.
Davies then saved from Gary Hooper's header after a cross by former Barnsley man Jack Hunt while, at the other end, Bradshaw fired over from the edge of the box after bring down a right-wing cross on the turn. A Wednesday defender then headed a MacDonald cross into his own net but it was ruled out for a push.
Barnsley were the more positive team at 1-1, with substitutes Isgrove and George Moncur adding some fresh legs. But Wednesday had some chances in injury-time as Hooper tried to backheel in a cross from the right, which Davies caught well, then Lucas Joao shot straight at the goalkeeper from long range.
