Barnsley 4 Sheffield Wednesday 2: Cussed bloody-mindedness makes for brilliant run

If Tuesday's between Barnsley and Sheffield Wednesday exceeded expectations, Reds fans must still be pinching themselves now.

The Owls have only lost four league games this season, and half of them have been to neighbours who were at their noisy best.

Darren Moore's stingy side rocked up at his old stomping ground having only conceded nine League One goals away from home all season and shipped four to a team who not only refused to lose their own unbeaten run, they would not even accept settling for a draw.

Not that the Owls did not play their part in the brilliant entertainment. Both sides played with all the cussed bloody-mindeness you expect of a White Rose derby.

Whilst they kicked metaphorical and occasionally actual lumps out of each other in pouring rain, Plymouth Argyle went top of League One with a 2-0 win at Accrington Stanley.

But if the Pilgrims think they can finish above either never mind both of these sides without a serious scrap between now and May, they are seriously mistaken. Both have two games in hand and if Tuesday was anything to go by, are absolutely ravenous for promotion.

To say the game see-sawed was an understatement.

About half an hour in the 5,000 Sheffield Wednesday fans began signing "Hi Ho Silver Lining", the song they normally belt out just before matches at Hillsborough start.

Two-nil down, they knew the then-leaders needed a restart against hosts whose intensity had blown them away.

But their team did not make it to the top of League One by accident, and two tap-ins every bit as good as 30-yarders from Lee Gregory got them back on terms and in pole position to win with 15 minutes left.

But Barnsley are not outperforming most of the division's heavyweights by throwing lucky punches.

When Gregory netted his second, a home win looked comfortably the least likely result but that was exactly what happened. It was the first time in 24 league matches anyone had got the better of Moore's ridiculously resilient team.

How they kept their cool in such a ferocious atmosphere is anyone's guess, but they did twice, scoring through Max Watters and Liam Kitching.

The Owls kicked off and as soon as they got the ball to Barry Bannan he launched a long pass Kitching simply leapt up and headed away.

When they got goal-kicks there was no pretence of the tippy-tappy stuff all the rage these days – everyone in blue-and-white got upfield and Cameron Dawson humped it.

The visitors looked too scared to pass the around deep with the Reds out of the blocks like starved rotweilers let off their leash, their intensity only increased by the rain slickening the pitch.

Wednesday must have wished they the injured George Byers to give them a midfield foothold.

Barnsley's intensity paid dividends just 11 minutes in, Mads Andersen threading a lovely pass for Devante Cole to slide the ball in.

Wednesday decided it was time to play but that did not work either, Luca Connell pouncing as they played the restart back, and getting it to James Norwod via Cole. His strike found the net too.

A sold-out Oakwell was delirious, three sides switching on the lights on their mobile phones as Wednesday reeled, dazzled and dazed.

You do not go 23 games unbeaten by being a soft touch, and the Owls cleared their heads, then used them.

Dominic Iorfa and Aden Flint ought to have put good chances on target but the fact both won their headers was encouraging.

On 34 minutes Will Vaulks swiftly fired a pass over the top and down the channel for Michael Smith to chase and tee up Gregory.

Harry Isted had to make a great save from Smith's 44th-minute header but Dawson had already made one, low from Norwood, with Jordan Williams showing Gregory's goal had done nothing to sate Barnsley's appetite to be first to every ball.

Wednesday took what little initiative was available in an arm wrestle of a second half which saw both teams attack their own fans.

For all the pressure, there were few chances and Norwood's final touch, unable to squeeze into the net, showed the Barnsley counter-attack was always on.

Their fans "oohed" sarcastically when Marvin Johnson volleyed onto the roof of the net from the touchline after 71 minutes but he soon made a touch count, stretching to pull the ball across when Bannan's switch picked him out.

Gregory finished from so close he celebrated in the net.

It could have broken a lesser side but with seven minutes to go, substitute Watters kept his cool to put a loose ball into the net and send the home fans into raptures.

From there, Barnsley fizzed passes rather than fretting like anyone normal would and when Luke Thomas calmly crossed along the ground in the seventh added minute centre-back Kitching improbably popped up to apply the killer touch.

Barnsley: Isted; B Thomas, Andersen, Kitching; J Williams, Phillips (L Thomas 61), Connell, Kane (Benson 80), Cadden (Cundy 87); Cole (Watters 80), Norwood (Tedic 61). Unused substitute: Larkeche, Collins.

Sheffield Wednesday: Dawson; Iorfa, Flint, Famewo; Palmer, Vaulks, Bannan, Adeniran (Dele-Bashiru 66), Johnson; Gregory, Smith. Unused substitutes: Stockdale, Hunt, James, Brown, Bakinson, Shipston.

Referee: R Joyce (Teesside).