Barnsley put themselves in a great position to reach the play-off final with a 3-0 home win over Walsall in the first leg of their semi-final on Saturday evening.

The Reds took the lead right at the end of the first half when Adam Hammill's shot was deflected in by Jason Demetriou. Sam Winnall then netted in the 54th and 55th minutes to put Barnsley in a dominant position going into the second leg in Walsall on Thursday.

Paul Heckingbottom kept the same team that dismantled champions Wigan with a 4-1 win six days earlier to confirm their place in the top six.

Barnsley started well against third-placed Walsall and had the first shot of the game on 15 minutes when Lloyd Isgrove attempted to get his first Reds goal from 25 yards only for Neil Etheridge to tip the powerful but central effort over the bar.

The Walsall goalkeeper had an easier save to make from the resulting corner when Alfie Mawson headed straight into his arms.The visitors had their first chance soon after on the counter-attack when Kieron Morris played in top-scorer Tom Bradshaw on the left on the box but his 18-yard shot was straight at home stopper Adam Davies.

Isgrove had a claim for a penalty turned down after a tangle with Rico Henry in the box then had even more reason to be frustrated with the officials a minute later. The Welsh international volleyed in an excellent cross by Adam Hammill but linesman Mark Duncan put his flag off for offside with replays later showing Isgrove was being played on by James O'Connor.

Davies made sure the linesman's error was not compounded by Barnsley falling behind when he made a superb save to claw a 25-yard Anthony Forde free-kick out of the top left corner. Walsall soon had another decent chance when Demetriou robbed Hammill then exchanged passed with Romaine Sawyers in a good run down the right before firing a weak shot straight at Davies.

Walsall's best chance of the half came when former Red Milan Lalkovic beat makeshift right-back Josh Scowen and squared to Bradshaw in a great position ten yards out with the goal gaping but he scuffed badly wide of the right post.

Barnsley eventually scored on the stroke of half-time when Ashley Fletcher won a header and Winnall burst into the box from the right. The Reds striker managed to pull the ball back despite the attentions of several defenders and Hammill's 12-yard shot hit Demetriou and went into the bottom left corner.

Linesman Duncan came off at half-time with a calf injury and was replaced by the fourth official.

The Reds had a golden chance for a second goal earlier in the second as they had a four-against-one counter-attack but Isgrove was denied by a fine Etheridge save when he had Josh Brownhill and Hammill waiting for a pass with an open goal in front of him.

Seconds later, Lalkovic once again skipped past Scowen in the Barnsley box but his shot from close range was kept out by a good Davies save.Winnall then scored twice within two minutes to put the Reds in control. His first goal was a 25-yard strike which took a deflection off O'Connor then flew into the top left corner. Winnall then received the ball 40 yards out and got away from the two players next to him before producing a great piece of skill to beat Paul Downing then he finished across the goalkeeper into the bottom left corner.

Walsall tried desperately to get back in the tie with Forde firing a shot across the face of goal then substitute Sam Mantom blazing well over when though on the left of the box.