Conor Hourihane's youthful approach could be useful approach as Barnsley FC search late-season excitement – the final word

Considering Saturday saw a club legend take charge of the team for the first time at Oakwell– watched by another, Paul Heckingbottom – the mood was miserably flat.

Rather than pump up the crowd by introducing Hourihane onto the pitch, Barnsley did not even turn down the music as he emerged to applaud the home fans ahead of his second game as interim coach.

Talk about a passion-killer at a ground already infected with apathy at how the club has been run.

Barnsley's start further dampened the mood. Donovan Pines headed the ball into danger, James Brophy ran off Mael Gevigney onto Dom Ballard's pass and set Cambridge up for a possible third away league win this season. The hosts had 81 minutes to avoid that but so far had monopolised the ball and done naff all with it.

When Max Watters nodded back a gimme of a chance to Davis Keillor-Dunn, the top-scorer missed.

It made for an atmosphere so flat you could hear the rat-a-tat-tat of Hourihane's constant clapping, and 266 fans high in the away end.

Rain began to bucket down on Hourihane's homecoming parade.

Salvaging a 1-1 draw was scant consolation. Never mind their away record, Cambridge are so poor anywhere they are now 12 points adrift of safety with eight games left.

Barnsley need to make up a point a game (then another because of their goal difference) on a Huddersfield Town team with an extra, ninth, match to cement a play-off spot. Not going to happen.

So something needs salvaging from this let-down of a campaign.

Although Barnsley offered too little, too late – even notwithstanding a penalty shout and Keillor-Dunn’s shot against the woodwork – the way they went about their second-half business was encouraging.

All five Hourihane substitutes improved them.

It was Jonathan Lewis who bundled in the equaliser two minutes into added time and Fabio Jalo – Barnsley's best player despite only coming on after 62 minutes – whose lovely cross made it.

Jalo came through the academy, like Jonathan Bland, who raised the levels after Josh Benson's latest injury. So did Kieran Flavell, making his first league start with Jackson Smith and Joe Gauci injured.

Flavell only had one save to make, but clawing Elias Kachunga's shot away in the 80th minute spoke well for his concentration.

Hourihane's departure from the three at the back that has been a Barnsley staple for five years was refreshing and his triple substitution put Pines out of his misery.

"I didn't want to go too much away from just going to a back four and getting dribblers on the pitch," explained Hourihane. "I needed people to interrupt their block of 4-4-2, dribble past someone, open up space and just create a bit of momentum and something different to the 5-3-2, 3-4-3 or whatever you want to call it brings you."

It does not seem like it was the start of a Hourihane revolution, but it might be the seeds of one.

"I think it's horses for courses for now but these fans want to be excited, they want to see energy, they want to see people playing with intensity and dribblers naturally bring you that," he said. "That's definitely something to think about."

The dribblers brought a drip-drip of pressure onto the sopping wet Us.

It had started with the second half as Adam Phillips increasingly found shooting positions, just not the net.

Jalo ran at defenders and fellow sub Jon Russell shot from distance.

Jalo hammered a 72nd-minute cross at Brophy, who turned his back, but his arm coming out to the ball could have led to a spot kick.

When Keillor-Dunn thumped against the frame of the goal, another dispiriting home defeat loomed. Lewis at least avoided that.

Imported in February, he is 27, but Flavell is only 21, Jalo and Bland 19.

"Barnsley in the past five years or so has been known for having young teams and it's good that Conor has put a lot of faith in the young lads," said former Ponty Ender Flavell.

"We've moved up to the (first-team) changing room now to kind of get a connection with the team in the last seven or eight games."

"Chuck in the kids!" is the default war cry of many a failed season, but Hourihane might be receptive.

"People that maybe thought they were going to play non-stop because the squad is small and thin have got people behind them champing at the bit to go," he warned.

"If they keep training the way they train, keep exciting me the way they excite me, then why not?

"They did themselves on harm on Saturday, that's for sure."

Neither did Hourihane, who despite pre-match talk from chairman Neerav Parekh about quality managers queuing to take the job in the summer, surely only needs to give his club a good excuse to get it.

Barnsley: Flavell; de Gevigney, Pines (Russell 62), McCarthy; Benson (Bland 20), Nwakali, Connell (Jalo 62), O'Keeffe; Keillor-Dunn, Phillips (Lewis 77); Watters (Humphrys 62). Unused substitutes: Hayton, Rodrigues.

Cambridge United: Bishop; Gibbons, Morrison, Watts, Malone; Stokes (Nlundulu 78), Stevenson, Digby, Brophy; Kachunga; Ballard (Kaikai 66). Unused substitutes: Stevens, Bennett, Okedina, Loft, Hoddle.

Referee: R Eley (Derby).