The doom and gloom merchants surrounding Oakwell were well and truly silenced today as Barnsley put on a battling display to beat promotion chasing West Bromwich Albion.
Reds manager Simon Davey made two changes to the side that got hammered by Coventry at the Ricoh Arena with Rob Kozluk and Martin Devaney coming into the side in place of Miguel Tininho who is ineligible to face his parent club, and Jamal Campbell-Ryce who was on international duty with Jamaica midweek.
The game began with a minute's silence to mark the 50th anniversary of the Munich disaster. Those remembered included Barnsley lads Tommy Taylor and Mark Jones as the 13,000 plus crowd fell into silence.
The Reds should have been in front within the first couple of minutes as a long pass from the impressive De Silva fell to Jon Macken who teed up Daniel Nardiello only for his weak shot facing an open net hitting Kiely's left post and out of play.
Shortly afterwards a free kick from Brian Howard was nodded by Lewin Nyatanga to Macken who struggled to get a finish from only eight yards out. The Baggies defence was well and truly under the cosh at this stage as Kozluk sent a free kick to the head of Dennis Souza as his header was deflected over from 6 yards out.
On 14 minutes Nardiello dispossessed Bostjan Cesar from the edge of the area and made him look very silly. The ball fell to Howard and the playmaker scuffed his shot well over the bar.
West Brom nearly took an undeserved lead on 17 minutes as Chris Brunt's corner kick met the head of Paul Robinson, but the full back sent his header over the bar. After 24 minutes the Baggies had another chance from a corner only for Robinson to scuff his shot and keep the score even.
Barnsley got their reward on 30 minutes as a horrible back pass from Robinson sent Nardiello clean through on goal. The QPR loanee coolly side footed a shot past Kiely into the bottom corner to send Oakwell into raptures.
Diego Leon nearly opened his Barnsley account on 38 minutes as West Brom winger Jonathan Greening went for Howard from behind. The ball fell to Leon and the Spaniard sent his shot a yard over Kiely's crossbar.
The Reds doubled their advantage on the stroke of half time when Howard's free kick caused chaos in the box with the ball eventually falling to Macken 6 yards out as he sent the ball past Kiely for 2-0.
Baggies boss Tony Mowbray changed things around at half time as Leon Barnett and Craig Beattie came on for Roman Bednar and Cesar. West Brom had the first shout of the second half as Beattie played in fellow teammate Teixerra on 46 minutes and forced Warner into his first save of the match.
Warner had to make another decent save from the increasing Baggies threat on 54 minutes as a mix up in the penalty area involving James Morrison as the loanee keeper stopped Leon Barnett from 6 yards out.
Shouts for a penalty rang around Oakwell as Robinson outstretched his leg to catch the threatening Devaney in the area. But the referee gave a free kick to the Baggies after Devaney's protest didn't help The Reds cause.
The visitors pulled a goal back a minute later after a great flick in the Reds penalty area to Morrison put the midfielder through on goal to poke the ball past Warner.
Howard almost restored the two-goal advantage for Barnsley on 62 minutes as he sent a dropping shot from the edge of the penalty only to be denied by the outstretching Kiely.
The Reds loanee keeper was called into action again on 67 minutes as Craig Beattie flicked on a clever pass to Kevin Phillips but the former Sunderland ace failed to beat Warner. Playmaker Zoltan Gera shot wide minutes later after going clean through past returning full back Rob Kozluk.
The Baggies defence continued to be put under pressure later in the second half as Leon, Macken and substitute Coulson were all trying to break through for a third. On 81 minutes the Baggies almost gifted Barnsley a goal as the lively Coulson chased down Robinson's poor pass only for Kiely to get to the stray ball first.
Player Ratings:
Warner: Commanded his area well after the unconvincing display at the Ricoh Arena. Solid performance from the loanee keeper: 7 (Out of 10)
Foster: Was never afraid to get stuck in where required and kept Chris Brunt well at bay: 7
Nyatanga: Had a big test on his hands with the in-form Phillips coming to town. Made some crucial challenges: 7
Souza: Had a lot to prove after a diabolical display against Coventry last weekend. Recovered very well with a solid performance and made some important: 7
Kozluk: My man of the match. Made some brilliant interventions to break down the Baggies wing play. Got forward at crucial times and made some crucial challenges: 8
Devaney: Not the most convincing performance from the winger. His crossing was questionable at times but ran his socks off: 6
De Silva: His all round ability over shadows a lot of Barnsley's first team players and was solid on the occasion with some neat passes: 7
Howard: Ran his socks off in the middle of the park but his passing and all round play is still not up to scratch: 6
Leon: The Spaniard did some neat passing and running and looked threatening when going forward. Settling in well: 7
Macken: A brilliant display from the increasing in popularity forward. Kept his composure when in front of goal: 8
Nardiello: Took his opener very well with an all round decent display. Still caught offside on far too many occasions: 7