The prospect of Cas running at full flight towards ex-Mariner Tony Gallimore had most Town fans licking their lips. Peter Handyside joined Gally as ex-Mariners in the Tykes lineup. Disappointingly Handyside received a few boos from the away end when his name was read out.
The opening half was pretty much Town dominated. Campbell and McDermott linked up well down the right, Cas was drifting about aimlessly in a frustrating style.
After nine minutes Onuora stumbled past Handyside before laying off to Boulding. The finish was a let down as Boulding fired wide when he really should have tested Sasa Ilic.
The Macca - Campbell combination brought another good chance soon after. Campbell slung the cross over for Onuora, unmarked at the back post. Amazingly the bigman managed to 'head' the ball downwards and wide of the goal when it seemed easier to miss.
Campbell was at the heart of nearly all of Town's attacks. This time he linked with Cas to provide Boulding a glorious chance to score. With time on his side, Boulding opted to snap at his chance which trickled towards Ilic.
After an impressive opening 20 minutes Town, in similar fashion to the last game against Notts County, took their foot of the gas.
The speedy, yet lightweight, Kevin Betsy and Isiah Rankin looked troublesome upfront for the Tykes. Tony Crane was having a hard time coping with the pair's twists and turns.
Neither Anderson or Cas were getting involved in a lot of the play, in fact both spent a lot of time infield. Anderson slowly got into the game and had a few neat little runs before been closed down.
As the break approached Onuora was inches away from connecting with a corner to give Town the lead.
The second half began with Town's usual tactic of putting eight men in front of Davison, Onuora occasionaly dropping back to make it nine and Boulding left isolated up front.
Early on Cas finally decided he wanted to play. Picking the ball up near the touchline the Dutchman skipped past one challenge before playing a neat one-two with Campbell. Nipping past Gallimore to get the layoff, Cas was in prime postion but his shot brought a fine save from Ilic. Referee Wiley decided not though and awared the goalkick.
Wiley was poor throughout with some baffling decisions. The standard of refereeing is really a concern, surely the FA can find better officials than this?
Barnsley continued to press forward as Town backed further back. Davison marshalled his area excellently and collected every cross with style. In fact it was only Davison's quick long throws, to Boulding, that started any Town attacks.
Campbell went close for Town with a long range scissor-kick that just cleared the bar. Other than that chances were at a premium for Town who seemed happy to hold on for a point.
Barnsley on the otherhand wanted the win and brought on Rory Fallon in the place of Anthony Kay. Betsy moved out onto the wing to attack Barnard with pace.
Darren Barnard's quick free-kick lacked the conviction to beat Ilic who plucked it out the air with ease.
Wiley continued his poor display by awarding a host of dangerous free-kicks to the Tykes in dangerous areas. Luckily nothing came of then thanks to poor shooting.
Crane produced his best moment of the game with 15 minutes to go. With Barnsley on the counter attack from a corner, Crane surged from box to box to make a fine challenge on Rankin at the final moment to prevent a certain goal.
Soon after Jason Crowe replaced the mostly ineffective Marcel Cas. Crowe soon showed Cas how to do it with effective, direct and simple running. Gallimore didn't like it one bit and Crowe had him beat. The former Pompey man whipped in a few decent crosses but neither Boulding or Onuora got on the end of them.
As the game came to an end it seemed certain to end a draw. Until, that is, Darren Barnard's needless shove on Rankin in the area, no arguements about the penalty. One decision that Mr Wiley got right.
To the suprise of the whole ground. Gallimore stepped up to take the kick. Having recieved constant verbal abuse from the Town end all game, this was the leftbacks chance to rub salt in the wounds.
His long run up looked odd and he didn't look at all confident. Rather than placing the ball, Gally opted for power but lacked the accuracy. Davison went the right way but he wasn't needed as the ball went well wide of his left post.
Gallimore looked distraught, Town fans were in delight.
As the players walked off Gallimore was consoled by Graham Rodger and John McDermott.
Overall a good point on paper and another clean sheet. To say we sat back for most the second half, we wasn't tested much at all. We should have won this game in the first half though. The missed chances by Boulding and Onuora were criminal.
Man of the Match - Stuart Campbell. Returned to his prefered central role and excelled in it. Ran non-stop and was a constant threat to the Tykes defence. His pushing forward allowed Des Hamilton to sit deeper and break things up.