Barnsley 0 Blackpool 1: Reds turn up the tempo too late on frustrating afternoon at Oakwell

Football needs to be played at the right tempo and it took until the second period for the Reds to find it.

Some modern coaches are obsessed with control but every now and then a touch of chaos does not go amiss. There was no question which half the home fans in a 13,005 enjoyed more.

More passes went astray and they left themselves a touch more vulnerable on the counter-attack, but more importantly they looked much more likely to score, particularly for the half hour or so Nicky Cadden was on the field. Two thirds of their shots came after things were cranked up.

In the end, the Reds paid the price for allowing the first-half Jordan Rhodes Blackpool were able to defend for a 1-0 win and for their lack of accuracy in front of goal but they hopefully learnt a lesson about tempo which will pay out the dividends it ought to have in the second period further down the line.

Barnsley did not play with the confidence of a side who had won six of their last seven matches in difficult conditions as the rain poured down on Oakwell during the first half.

They had much more of the ball in the first half but did very little with it, failing to have a shot on target. Chances were scarce for Blackpool too but when they got one Jordan Rhodes – who spent time in Barnsley's academy – took it.

The Reds’ best moments came when they were alive to the possibilities offered by the Blackpool defenders dwelling on the ball.

Appropriately on a day Reuben Noble-Lazarus, still the youngest player to appear in English league football when he made his Barnsley debut aged the 15 years and 45 days, 18 year-old Theo Chapman made his first league start.

With the insurance policy of Herbie Kane behind him, he looked tidy in an injury-hit midfield but neither he nor Hungarian international Callum Styles alongside him were able to provide much by way of inspiration in the opening 45 minutes, even with John McAtee dropping deep at times to help them out.

Chapman was substituted at the break as Barnsley went 3-4-3.

McAtee's brightness caught James Husband out in the 10th minute and when Devante Cole received the ball, Callum Connolly did well to throw himself in the way of the shot. Jordan Williams could only loop a header into Daniel Grimshaw's hands from the corner.

After half an hour the roles were reversed, Cole winning back possession, McAtee's shot blocked.

By then his team was trailing.

The pace of Chris Hamilton, who spent time with Sheffield United and Halifax Town as a youngster, troubled the hosts when he got the afterburners on and 24 minutes in, Blackpool released him near the corner flag. Corey O'Keefe brought him down and Rhodes sent Roberts the wrong way from 12 yards.

Late in the half Hamilton beat O'Keefe but Williams came across to concede a corner the visitors could not make use of.

Sam Cosgrove's half-time introduction let Cole drop a little deeper and the effects – good and bad – were obvious quite quickly.

Just five minutes after the restart Cole threaded a pass to him which was returned almost by accident but the speed of the break showed an intensity lacking earlier. It also allowed Blackpool to counter, Liam Roberts forced into a good one-handed save from former Red Kenny Dougall.

Generally, though, the good outweighed the bad and a change of wing-backs only increased the improvement.

Barry Cotter had just been introduced when he had a wild shot from a corner half-cleared to him, and Cole very nearly slid onto a great ball in from again. His next pull-back had fans appealing for a penalty.

When a Cotter pass unintentionally made it through to Cole, his cross from the return was taken off Cadden's head as he arrived at the far post.

When Kane had a shot blocked, Blackpool just could not get the ball away, penned in by red-and-white shirts.

The approach got to the Tangerines, Husband over-reacting by pushing his face into Cole's in response to a slide tackle but referee Charlie Breakspear wisely choosing not to. Barnsley's reward was to see that their opponents were rattled.

Oakwell became a factor, given something to get behind.

McAtee ought to have done better with Cole's 76th-minute pull-back and Cotter had a shot charged down from a half-cleared free-kick.

Roberts had to save low from Shane Lavery and Albie Morgan was not far wide but that was just the price Barsnley had to pay for their positivity,

They were exceptions to the rule which saw Cole's header from a deep Kane cross deflect wide, Cosgrove's shot hit a defender, Cadden unable to keep down a half-volley, and Max Watters scuff a scoreable pull-back from Cole.

It was a frustrating defeat for a side which have put themselves in the League One play-off picture but keep playing like this with a bit more sharpness in their finishing and it should be a rare one in the long run.

Barnsley: Roberts; Williams, de Gevigney, McCart; O'Keeffe (Cotter 58), Kane, Dodgson (Cadden 58); Chapman (Cosgrove HT), Styles; McAtee (Watters 75), Cole.

Unused substitutes: Russell, Killip, Shepherd.

Blackpool: Grimshaw; Connolly, Casey, Husband; Dale (Ekpiteta 84), Weir (Morgan 63), Dougall, Norburn, Hamilton; Kouassi (Lavery 63), Rhodes (Carey 89).

Unused substitutes: O'Donnell, Dembele, Thompson.

Referee: C Breakspear (Surrey).