Barnsley produced a dominant 1st half performance to seal the game away to Halifax who fired some counter shots late in the piece. Vandals, coming off the back of two promotions, could not cope with the early pressure from Barnsley running down the considerable slope. A cracking setting for a game it must be said and the Vandals are welcome additions to the league.

Early rampages from Bagnall and Reed saw Barnsley charge downfield and Nick Davies produced a further burst through in behind. Unfortunately Nick collapsed into a heap and passed away in midfield as Rhodes and then Copley made ground up the left hand side. Praise the Lord indeed though as a try scoring opportunity saw Nick revived just to pop up in the centres as the ball came back for him to career an outstanding finish through stretched defence for the opening score. Foye made it 7-0 with ease.

The Barnsley pressure continued and Terrington, (T) Smith & Bagnall had the upper hand in the scrum. Fisher was looking strong in midfield and most of the play was one way. Turnover ball from Tasker saw Barnsley exploit the space and Fisher fed O'Loughlin who had space, but plenty to do. He cut superbly against the defence to break the line and stepped the full back with about a phone box worth of space to go under the sticks. The last man letting out a cry of '****ing *******' in response, bringing a chuckle from the Barnsley faithful, and you had to agree with him. Foye picked up another two by converting for 14-0.

The line out was a problem area for Barnsley and it seems both set pieces won't click at the same time so far but this should improve as the season progresses. Appleyard, Foye & (J) Smith all kicked well and intelligently to keep the Vandals in the mire and all the Barnsley backs looked dangerous whenever good ball came out. A few attempted chips had too much on them but the intent and variety of attack was good.

Barnsley were awarded a penalty try when an awesome scrum marched the Vandals back and they had to splinter. Reed must have thought an easy 5 pointer was coming, the ball shot out and Lawton fed Fisher who was all set to dive over but the man in charge was already heading beneath the sticks. 7 points you get these days and 21-0 was the score.

There were some flaws as Barnsley still gave plenty of penalties away around the ruck and on three occasions a good defensive line outnumbered the attackers but O'Loughlin was still left with a crucial one on one tackle due to a lack of work by men on his inside. Thankfully he made all three in dominant fashion and little alarm was felt on the pitch in comparison to that on the touchline.

Dan Eaden followed up a great display against Wath to be among the top performers again and could well soon earn the nickname 'chopper' as attacker after attacker were scythed down, a couple violently enough to dislodge the ball and force the turnover. Vandals did get upfield and were already turning down kickable penalties due to the deficit. From a long passage of play a Vandals centre seemed set to breach a stretched line before a monster hit from Rhodes knocked him from the Barnsley 22 closer to tarn end roundabout. The momentum killed and danger averted.

Having withheld the pressure Barnsley were bag off downfield, another Bagnall carry supported well by Reed and Terrington. The ball was shipped and Fisher cut a determined line and looked set to score as he went clean through. To his credit the full back held on and Fisher was forced to offload to Foye, who could also be nicknamed chopper, who cantered under the posts and added another two to his haul for the day.

Late in the half Barnsley were again on top at scrum time and Reed finished well from close range, as we've seen so many times over the years, and made it 35-0 at the half.

The 2nd half wasn't as good a watch for the Barnsley supporters and the Vandals showed their experience on the slope to keep the pressure on throughout. Barnsley were guilty of overplaying in their own half as many turnovers were gifted swiftly back to the Vandals and the pressure eventually told as a missed tackle saw their first try for 35-7.

Beck, Bunny and Henighan were introduced as defending was sapping the Barnsley team. Vandals kicked a penalty well and after halting a maul Barnsley were disappointed at a simple switch breaking the line off the back of another missed tackle for 35-14.

Barnsley were still turning the ball over and attacking but remained frenetic throughout the 2nd period. A calm 5 minutes could have seen them regain control but this never materialised. After Copley got a good chance to dance past a few Bagnall gave the people what they wanted and set off on a charge. Seemingly halted by 6-8 vandals he suddenly emerged bouncing and braying as he went to run clear and score a great try for 40-14. Here's a link to the footage https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3OjfK0t1XM

Bunny was looking to make the most of a poor clearing kick and danced around a few before offloading to Beck to gain ground. He found Appleyard who produced a perfect kick through and with several Barnsley players winning the race to score the ref realised he had been adjudged in touch by a whisker to prevent Barnsley getting a 6th.

Vandals managed an unconverted try 3rd after more pressure late in the piece but they couldn't regain possession to attempt a bonus point. Lawton hoofed off with time up to end proceedings at 40-19 to the red men. Reed it seems has a photo of ANOTHER opposing captain in bed with a midget as he was again awarded MOTM in the bar.

A second away win sees Barnsley in good shape to face Roundhegians and, as no team has got off to a flyer, start emerging as real contenders for the top spots.