Barnsley 4 Gillingham 1: Wilson impressed as Reds sink the Gills

The Reds netted twice in each half to make it seven points from their last three league fixtures.

Conor Hourihane opened the scoring with a fine left-footed strike into the corner before Sam Winnall headed in Reece Brown’s cross to put Barnsley 2-0 up.

Substitute Devante Cole side-footed Joe Dudgeon’s centre in off the underside of the bar to stretch their lead.

Gills captain Danny Kedwell tapped home in the 72nd minute after his earlier penalty had been saved by Adam Davies but substitute Dale Jennings ended any hopes of a fightback when he guided an angled shot past Stephen Bywater after Hourihane had seen his free-kick blocked by the Gillingham wall.

There was even time for substitute Kane Hemmings to see a shot strike the base of a post as the Reds completed a thoroughly-deserved victory.

Reds chief Danny Wilson said: “The three points are very important in front of your home fans.

“We want to make Oakwell a difficult place to come for opposition teams and I think we did that today.

“We pressed the ball well. We showed a great determination in which to get ourselves in front.

“At first we were a little bit pedestrian, we needed some tempo in the game. But once we did, there was no looking back and we obviously deserved the points.”

Barnsley: Davies, Brown, Cranie, Nyatanga, Dudgeon, Treacy (Jennings 63), Berry, Abbott, Hourihane, Winnall (Hemmings 79), Lita (Cole 64). Unused substitutes: Turnbull, Digby, Mvoto, Bree.

Gillingham: Bywater, Hoyte, Egan, Legge, Hause, Aaron Morris (Pritchard 61), Hessenthaler, Dack, Dickenson (McDonald 61), Kedwell, McGlashan (Norris 79). Unused substitutes: Fish, Glenn Morris, German, Davies.

Referee: C Berry (Surrey).

Man of the match: Conor Hourihane.