A third come from behind victory in the space of five games saw the Reds move into the top half of the table.
Their previous three victories at this level when conceding first had spanned 298 games!
It is the first time Barnsley have finished a set of fixtures in the top half of the Championship since the opening weekend of 2019-2020 (9th) but after playing more than one match the first time since the 19th March 2017 (11th)
Barnsley have now won three successive league games, the first time they have achieved this since February.
All three wins have been by a 2-1 scoreline, the first time Barnsley have had the same scoreline in three successive matches since April 2015 when they drew three League One games in a row all by a 1-1 scoreline.
It is the first time Barnsley have won back-back games when conceding first since August 2006 when they came from 2-0 down at Hull to win 3-2 and then 1-0 down at Colchester to win 2-1.
Barnsley conceded after just two minutes following on from conceding after four at Hillsborough on Saturday, the first time they have conceded in the opening five minutes in successive games since March 2010 when they conceded after four at Ipswich and then after two at Bristol City.
It is the earliest goal conceded since Luton’s Jacob Butterfield (2) in August 2019.
Barnsley won a match when behind at half time for the first time since a League Cup tie against Derby in September 2017 (2-1 down at half time, won 3-2) and the first time in a league match since February 2016 at Crewe (1-0 down at half time, won 2-1)
Barnsley’s three victories when conceding the first goal is the most they have won from this situation in a season since 2010-2011 (also three times)
Cauley Woodrow had his 12th goal involvement of the season (8 goals 4 assists) after Callum Styles set up Alex Mowatt’s equaliser, only the third time in 19 Championship games in 2020-2021 in which as many as two Barnsley goals have been directly assisted by a team-mate.
Five out of Barnsley’s last six matches have seen both teams score, none of the prior six did.
They have had four successive victories in which both teams have scored for the first time since November 2015 – January 2016 (2-1 v Oldham, 3-2 v Colchester, 4-2 v Blackpool, 2-1 v Millwall)
Each of Barnsley’s last seven league victories when conceding have all finished 2-1.
Barnsley have gone 12 league games without a draw (all under Ismael) (W8 L4) - prior to this they had drawn four out of five.
It is their longest run without a stalemate since a run of 17 between November 2014 and March 2015 (W10 L7)
Barnsley ended a winless run of five games against Preston (D3 L2) with this also their first win in five at Oakwell against the Lillywhites.
Indeed it is the first time they have scored against Preston at Oakwell in that run.
Barnsley Team:
1. Jack Walton
26. Michael Sollbauer
30. Michal Helik
6. Mads Andersen
7. Callum Brittain
32. Matty James
27. Alex Mowatt
4. Callum Styles
11. Conor Chaplin
28. Dominik Frieser
9. Cauley Woodrow
Substitutes:
16. Luke Thomas (for Chaplin 61)
29. Victor Adeboyejo (for Frieser 61)
8. Herbie Kane (for James 78)
Unused Substitutes:
40. Brad Collins, 22. Clarke Oduor, 25. George Miller, 34. Jasper Moon, 19. Patrick Schmidt, 21. Romal Palmer.
Preston Team:
1. Declan Rudd
16. Andrew Hughes
6. Ben Davies
3. Josh Earl
2. Darnell Fisher
19. Emil Riis Jakobsen
8. Alan Browne
12. Paul Gallagher
11. Daniel Johnson
29. Tom Barkhuizen
24. Sean Maguire
Substitutions:
31. Scott Sinclair (for Riis Jakobsen 67)
15. Joe Rafferty (for Maguire 67)
20. Jayden Stockley (for Barkhuizen 74)
7. Tom Bayliss (for Gallagher 78)
Unused Substitutes:
32. Adam O’Reilly, 25. Connor Ripley, 14. Jordan Storey, 10. Josh Harrop, 23. Paul Huntington.
Preston manager Alex Neil said:
"I don't think there was anything in it. Our biggest frustration is that we take an early 1-0 lead and we then have arguably the best chance of the match.
"We made a couple of bad decisions and we don't capitalise on it. Their first was a very good goal. Their second is my biggest frustration. It was a free-kick and we don't stand over the ball or kick the ball away.
"To be fair to the lad, it was a good finish, but it was absolutely criminal from us. We've lost a match and probably over the piece, we deserved a draw. The game's decided on a mistake which shouldn't happen at this level."
Sky Bet Championship results
TUESDAY 15TH DECEMBER 2020
Queens Park Rangers (19th) 0-0 Stoke City (8th)
BARNSLEY (12th) 2-1 Preston North End (16th)
Maguire 2
Mowatt 54
Adeboyejo 80
AFC Bournemouth (2nd) 1-0 Wycombe Wanderers (23rd)
Stanislas 68
Bristol City (9th) 0-2 Millwall (15th)
Bradshaw 17
Bennett 68
Nottingham Forest (21st) 2-0 Sheffield Wednesday (24th)
Ribeiro 4
Grabban 87
Watford (3rd) 1-1 Brentford (6th)
Deeney pen 60
Toney pen 63
WEDNESDAY 16TH DECEMBER 2020
Derby County (22nd) 2-0 Swansea City (4th)
Kazim-Richards 4
Jozwiak 37
Cardiff City (10th) 3-2 Birmingham City (17th)
Glatzel 10
Roberts 31
Sanchez 57
Wilson 77
Morrison 89
Middlesbrough (7th) 1-0 Luton Town (13th)
Akpom 52
Blackburn Rovers (11th) 2-1 Rotherham United (20th)
Smith 61
Elliott 80
Armstrong 90+8
Coventry City (18th) 0-0 Huddersfield Town (14th)
Reading (5th) 1-2 Norwich City (1st)
Buendia 11
Olise 14
Pukki pen 55
Barnsley lie in 12th place in the Sky Bet Championship with 28 points from 19 games. We are 4 points off the Play-Offs, 9 points off the Automatic Promotion Places, 12 points off First Place and 12 points above the Relegation Zone.
Up to 17/12/20
Next Up:
On The Road:
Sky Bet Championship Matchday Twenty: Swansea City v Barnsley, Saturday 19th December 2020. Kick-Off: 3pm
At Oakwell:
Sky Bet Championship Matchday Twenty One: Barnsley v Huddersfield Town, Saturday 26th December 2020. Kick-Off: 3pm