Stevenage Youth’s FA Youth Cup run came to an end at Oakwell with Barnsley edging a seven goal thriller.
The final scoreline was 4-3 to the Tykes, but that didn’t tell the story of an entertaining fixture which, in the end, was decided by a penalty.
The young Barnsley side raced into a 3-0 lead with Boro shell-shocked, it had been a relatively even game with the home team simply taking their chances. They opened the scoring through Rhys Oates, who latched onto a quite brilliant ball over the defence from George Smith and lofted home over Charlie Horlock in the Boro net.
Omari Alexander-Salmon made it two as he connected with a ball form the right and netted with a half-volley into the bottom corner before George Maris seemed to put the game beyond doubt with a finish from a tight angle.
Jo N’Guessan pulled one back before the break to give Boro hope – a brilliant dropkick from Horlock created the chance and the striker put Barnsley’s central defender under pressure before poking it over the line.
Rohdell Gordon had the goal of the game after the half time break after jinking from left to right and curling an effort into the top corner but a Brad Abbott penalty took the momentum away from Darren Sarll’s side.
Captain George Allen stabbed home when a late corner caused confusion in the Barnsley penalty area but time was on the side of the home team and a spirited Stevenage fell to defeat.