Two goals in the first ten minutes helped Barnsley to a 2-0 win at struggling Blackburn Rovers which made it mathematically impossible for them to get relegated this season.
Marc Roberts headed in a third-minute opener before Marley Watkins doubled the lead with a superb 25-yard strike. Barnsley had not scored in their first half of any of their last eight games, which had brought no wins. The Reds remain 13th, 16 points clear of the drop zone and 11 off the top six.
Paul Heckingbottom made three changes from the side that drew 0-0 at home to Cardiff City on Tuesday. Adam Hammill, who could miss the rest of the season with a broken toe, was replaced by Ryan Kent while Ryan Hedges and George Moncur came in for Tom Bradshaw and Alex Mowatt.
The Reds went ahead in the third minute when a right-sided Kent corner that was headed on by Angus MacDonald and nodded home at the back post by captain Roberts despite the despairing efforts of goalkeeper Jason Steele.
The second goal came from a superb 25-yard shot by Watkins which hit the bar, then the goal-line, then the bar and goal-line again before being clawed away by Steele only for the linesman to rule that it had gone in.
The remainder of the first half was a lot more even, with Moncur – who was denied by a good Davies save which forced the corner for the opener – failing to really test Steele with two low long-range efforts, with Kent's similar effort also being kept out.
At the end other end, Blackburn mainly threatened aerially with Tommie Hoban heading a Danny Guthrie corner cross wide of the top right of Barnsley's goal then Lucas Joao nodding a Ryan Mahoney header straight at goalkeeper Adam Davies.
In the second half, both teams were restricted mainly to long range shots which failed to trouble either goalkeeper. Moncur cleared a Derrick Williams header off the line, though it may have been going wide anyway, then Sam Gallagher fired wide from the left side of the box before heading over an Elliott Bennett cross in injury-time.
