Jonny Howson celebrates

Leeds got off to the best possible start but soon fell apart.

At 7:48pm last night the 6700 travelling Leeds fans inside Oakwell couldn’t have been happier. Jonny Howson got Leeds off to the best possible start following a Neil Kilkenny corner.

Despite early pressure from United the game soon became scrappy and though chances were created for Lloyd Sam (in the team replacing Watt), Richard Naylor and Luciano Becchio, Leeds weren’t able to strengthen their lead.

Leeds survived a couple of Barnsley chances but were rattled as Garry O’Connor, on loan from Birmingham, equalised from the edge of the area not long before the break.

Andy Hughes replaced Fede Bessone in the opening minutes of the second half. Leeds were stunned again as Barnsley quickly took the lead after Jim O’Brien scored an easy chance.

Simon Grayson brought on Ross McCormack for Bradley Johnson on the hour mark. The new man soon went close, grazing the bar with a free kick. Things got worse though when Diego Arismendi put Barnsley 3-1 up with a good finish. It was always going to be a massive task to come back from two goals down with 25 minutes remaining but Leeds didn’t help themselves.

Desperate to save something from the game, Grayson brought on Davide Somma for Sam and switched to a 4-3-3 shape. It seemed to be too little too late and Barnsley soon wrapped up the win with two goal in quick succession. The first was an own goal by Neill Collins who headed a cross past Shane Higgs, the second a good strike, less than sixty seconds later, by youngster Adam Hammill who had tormented Leeds all night. Davide Somma scored a late consolation but it was all over for Leeds by then.

A very disappointing display by Leeds, littered with mistakes and poor decisions, led to Simon Grayson accusing the players of letting down the fans.

The 5-2 result puts an end to a string of good games for Leeds. Simon Grayson and fans will be looking for the players to respond with a good performance when Leeds play Doncaster live on television on Friday evening.

The manner of the defeat may pressure Grayson into making changes to the side with question marks still surrounding Richard Naylor and Fede Bessone and Davide Somma obviously raring to have a run in the first team.