Sheffield Wednesday 1 Barnsley 1: Spectacular Barnes strike gives Reds share of spoils at Hillsborough

A brilliant strike midway through the second half from Harvey Barnes - who again displayed his penchant for the spectacular - earned Barnsley a precious derby point to pile further frustration upon Sheffield Wednesday and Carlos Carvalhal.
Sheffield Wednesday 1 Barnsley 1Sheffield Wednesday 1 Barnsley 1
Sheffield Wednesday 1 Barnsley 1

After firing memorable goals against Sunderland and QPR, Barnes also served up a wonderful party piece with an exquisite strike from distance to level it up and cancel out Adam Reach's fortuitous 34th-minute opener.

Wednesday were full value for their interval lead and were on top for the first part of the second period, but their inability to grab a killer second goal proved costly as the Reds punished that wastefulness to claim a point.

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Both sides rang the changes in the defensive stakes, with Joost van Aken brought in for the suspended Glenn Loovens for the hosts, while Daniel Pudil replaced Morgan Fox at left-back.

Angus MacDonald stepped in for the injured Adam Jackson in the heart of the Reds rearguard, with Andy Yiadom making his long-awaited return after being out since August, replacing Zeki Fryers, while Mamadou Thiam was handed a start up front.

The first half saw Wednesday dominate for significant spells and while their opener was fortuitous, the merit of their lead was beyond dispute with their response showcasing character after a run of four defeats in their previous five outings.

The hosts produced a vibrant performance at times which will have pleased under-pressure Carlos Carvalhal and piled on the pressure at stages, attacking the Kop, in a strong showing, with the Reds defence under siege at times.

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A combination of defiant defending, alert goalkeeping and the woodwork kept the hosts at bay for the opening half-hour, but Adam Davies could do nothing to prevent Reach's opener.

Prior to that, the Owls had gone closest when a thundering strike from distance from Kieran Lee shuddered the woodwork on the half-hour with Reach netting not too long after.

Davies prevented a second for the Owls, when he did well to block Tom Lees' header with his legs following Barry Bannan's centre.

After being second best in the opening twenty minutes, the Reds slowly grew into the contest and displayed pockets of assertion on occasions, although most of the goalmouth action was at the other end.

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Their best chance came from a free-kick in a dangerous position after Thiam was upended with Cameron McGeehan's well-placed effort bringing out a smart parry from Keiren Westwood.

Wednesday continued to hold sway on the restart, with the impressive Hunt firing over before seeing his cross-shot whistle across goal, before a good block by Lees denied McGeehan at the other end.

Superb defending from MacDonald and Yiadom denied Wednesday before a turbo-charged run from Barnes saw his clip the woodwork - before faring better soon after with a majestic strike from distance.

The game became exceedingly open in the final quarter with Davies claiming Hooper's point-blank header with Bradshaw firing over at the other end.

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Sheffield Wednesday: Westwood, Hunt, Lees, Van Aken, Pudil (Butterfield 66), Wallace (Jaoo 83), Lee, Bannan, Reach; Hooper, Fletcher (Rhodes 74). Substitutes unused: Wildsmith, Jones, Palmer, Venancio.

Barnsley: Davies; McCarthy, MacDonald, Lindsay, Yiadom, Hammill (Isgrove 66), McGeehan (Moncur 66), Williams, Barnes, Bradshaw, Thiam (Potts 45). Substitutes unused: Walton, Pearson, Hedges, Ugbo.

Referee: A Taylor (Cheshire).

Attendance; 27,097.