Crewe Alexandra Under 23s lost by slender margin to Barnsely at Reaseheath to lose their first home game of the season in the Under 23 Professional Development League 2.
Sam Fielding's 19th minute miscued cross sailed in off the post in what was the only goal of the game, despite Crewe pushing for an equaliser & hitting the post through Lewis Reilly.
Barnsley came out the blocks the quicker & dominated the early exchanges but Crewe almost took the lead 11 minutes in on the counter-attack. Regan Griffiths got in down the left & squared the ball for Connor Heath to shoot, but his 10-yarder was blocked by a sea of Tykes legs.
The deadlock was broke eight minutes later. Barnsley put a cross over from the left, but it sailed all the way through the box & out to the right. Trying to fire over a return cross first time, Fielding caught it almost too well & the ball flew over the helpess Dave Richards & bounced into the net off the far post.
The Alex had their best chance of the game three minutes shy of the break. Malachi Linton scampered down the right & fired over a cross that GK Walton parried back out to the waiting Reilly. He took a touch round the defender but fired his low shot against the foot of the post.
Into the second period & Crewe gave it an almighty push in search of an equaliser, Griffiths rifling a 62nd minute shot that Walton miraculously turned over the bar before Reilly had a couple of pops from the edge of the box.
But it was Barnsley who almost put the game to bed with two breakaway chances in the final quarter of the game & they fell to both of their full-backs. First, left-back Jordan Barnett rifled a left-footer across Richard's goal & watch on as it zipped inches wide, before right-back Jordan Williams hit a fierce rocket narrowly wide of the near post.
It was a free-flowing game overall with both sides going for it, but it with the visitors who came out on top to seal all three points.