Barnsley 3 Walsall 0 - Report and pictures

A Jason Demetriou own-goal and two second-half Sam Winnall strikes in two minutes saw the Tykes secure a convincing victory at Oakwell.

Jon Whitney's side struggled to cope with Barnsley's high intensity, high pressing game throughout.

But they still had their chances with Tom Bradshaw and Milan Lalkovic both going close.

The result means the Saddlers now have a mountain to climb in Thursday's home leg, with Whitney's men needing to find the form they showed at Port Vale a week ago to have any chance.

In naming his starting line-up, the head coach kept faith with the team that secured three straight wins against Shrewsbury, Fleetwood and Port Vale.

It meant the Saddlers continued to operate in a dynamic 4-1-4-1 formation with Lalkovic, Romaine, Sawyers, Kieron Morris and Anthony Forde all starting in midfield.

The substitute's bench was also unchanged from the trip to the Potteries with summer signing Isaiah Osbourne continuing to step up his recovery from a cruciate knee ligament injury.

For Paul Heckingnbottom's Barnsley, top scorer Winnall was partnered by Manchester United loanee Ashley Fletcher up front.

The Tykes entered the clash having managed to avoid defeat in their last six outings.

But with so much resting on the tie, both teams started in a nervy fashion, with Walsall forced to hit a lot of hopeful long balls due to Barnsley's high pressing game.

It wasn't until the 17th minute that either side threatened, with the Tykes registering the first clear chance when Lloydd Isgrove hit a fierce drive from 25-yards which Neil Etheridge had to tip over.

From the resultant corner, an unmarked Alfie Mawson headed straight at the Philippines international keeper.

Suddenly the game had burst into life, with Walsall going straight up the other end and Morris finding Bradshaw inside the box.

The Welsh striker worked himself some space to escape the attentions of Marc Roberts but then drilled a strike straight at Davies.

It was the hosts though who were in the ascendency and they thought they had taken the lead midway through the half only to be denied by a dubious offside flag.

Ex-Wolves winger Adam Hammill delivered a wonderfully inviting cross which was swept into the back of the net by Isgrove.

But despite wild celebrations from the home crowd, the linesman raised his flag for what was a very marginal offside.

Walsall responded with Forde hitting a curling free-kick from 20-yards which was well kept out by Davies.

Sawyers then darted into the box and cut the ball back to Demetriou but the full-back's strike was easily claimed by the Tykes keeper.

Barnsley were still enjoying the lion's share of the play but in the 40th minute the Saddlers created the best opportunity of the half.

A brilliant cross-field ball from Morris found Lalkovic who tricked his way past full-back George Williams before delivering a low cross.

The ball looked destined to be side-footed into the net by Bradshaw but the normally prolific forward got his timings wrong and his effort drifted wide.

It proved to be a costly miss with Barnsley going up the other and taking the lead on the stroke of half-time.

Both James O'Connor and Rico Henry tried to shepherd the ball out of play for a goal-kick but Winnall nipped in to deliver a cross which was met by Hammill.

The winger's strike was heading wide but took a deflection off Demetriou and then nestled into the far corner with the Saddlers defender subsequently credited with an own-goal.

Within 30 seconds of the re-start, referee Peter Bankes blew for half-time.

The game started in frantic fashion after the interval with the home side having a glorious chance to double their advantage inside the first few minutes.

After a Walsall corner, the Tykes broke four on one but instead of passing to a team mate – Isgrove went alone only to see his effort blocked by a brilliant Etheridge save.

Whitney's men responded with Lalkovic darting into the box and seeing a strike blocked with the ball then falling for Forde who also saw an effort steered away by a defender.

But in the 54th minute, Barnsley did manage to double their lead with Winnall's 20-yard strike taking a wicked deflection off O'Connor before flying over Etheridge.

Two minutes later it was 3-0. Winnall was played in once again and the former Wolves man calmly slotted the ball past Etheridge.

Whitney responded by introducing Sam Mantom for Morris. Then with 20 minutes remaining, Jordy Hiwula replaced Bradshaw.

With Walsall desperately in need of a goal, Lalkovic did well to work the ball to Forde on the right with the Irishman then flashing a fierce strike across goal.

And with 15 minutes remaining, Walsall worked themselves another glorious opportunity to get back into the game.

A quick break saw Sawyers find Lalkovic who in-turn slipped Mantom in on goal but, leaning back, the midfielder fired over when he should have scored.

With a little over five minutes remaining, Whitney made his final change with Jordan Cook replacing Lalkovic.

But the Saddlers had struggled to find that bit of magic in the final third afternoon, with Barnsley seeing out the game comfortably for a deserved win.