Match ends, Barnsley 1, Nottingham Forest 0.
BarnsleyBarnsley1Nottm ForestNottingham Forest0
Dale Jennings' first goal for Barnsley was enough to earn all three points against Nottingham Forest and move the Tykes off the foot of the table.
The midfielder, who signed from Bayern Munich last summer, scored with a well-struck shot early in the second half.
Djamel Abdoun hit a post for Forest in the first half, while Jamie Mackie headed wide from close range.
Defeat for Billy Davies' side was their third in succession, having previously lost against Burnley and Wigan.
Manager Davies was forced to watch from the stands due to a five-match touchline ban for abusing a referee.
His opposite number Danny Wilson, guided his team to a fifth game without defeat at home and they remain two points away from safety.
They took control of this game early, though. Jennings threatened to open the scoring in the sixth minute but goalkeeper Karl Darlow was equal to his long-range attempt.
At the other end, Abdoun struck the foot of a post with a 25-yard half volley and then crossed to Mackie, who should have scored with a free header.
The deadlock was broken shortly after the break when Jennings cut in from the left and drove the ball past the outstretched arm of Darlow.
Jamie Paterson twice came close to bringing the visitors back onto level terms but shot narrowly wide from distance before heading straight at Tykes goalkeeper Luke Steele.
The hosts had their backs against the wall as the game reached its climax and Steele did well to save Abdoun's curling free-kick in injury time.
Barnsley manager Danny Wilson: "At the end, when they're throwing everything at us, we had to defend resolutely and I think everybody did, not just the back four.
"We didn't see the true us last week, over the last few months we've showed better resilience than we did last week but I think we went a long way to putting it right today.
"We responded very, very well and I have to say the fans were as good as we were today; absolutely top class, getting behind us."
Nottingham Forest deputy manager David Kelly: "It's different with the gaffer not being there because he's the leader, he's the focal point of the team.
"Communication was a little bit difficult with the phones; phones don't really work in football grounds. But we had conversations going on.
"It's not the same when he is not there, we miss him. We miss him as a staff, we miss him as a playing group but such is the ban.
"I'm just a little bit disappointed we couldn't break them down, they defended for their lives."
Line-ups
Barnsley
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 1SteeleBooked at 64mins
- 12HuntBooked at 61mins
- 4Kennedy
- 11WoodsSubstituted forFrimpongat 77'minutes
- 3Ramage
- 6Cranie
- 7O'BrienSubstituted forLawrenceat 90+5'minutes
- 8DawsonBooked at 74mins
- 10O'Grady
- 21MellisBooked at 85mins
- 16Jennings
Substitutes
- 5Nyatanga
- 9Proschwitz
- 14Lawrence
- 15Frimpong
- 19Cywka
- 31Turner
- 42McCourt
Nottm Forest
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 1Darlow
- 15HalfordSubstituted forMoussiat 75'minutes
- 13FoxBooked at 29mins
- 28Majewski
- 16Lascelles
- 32GomisBooked at 9mins
- 12MackieSubstituted forHendersonat 58'minutes
- 18Jara
- 31CoxSubstituted forDerbyshireat 70'minutes
- 21Paterson
- 39Abdoun
Substitutes
- 3Harding
- 5Collins
- 6Moussi
- 9Henderson
- 14Greening
- 27Derbyshire
- 29de Vries
- Referee:
- Keith Stroud
- Attendance:
- 12,157
Match Stats
Home TeamBarnsleyAway TeamNottm Forest
- Possession
- Home48%
- Away52%
- Shots
- Home14
- Away19
- Shots on Target
- Home2
- Away4
- Corners
- Home6
- Away7
- Fouls
- Home13
- Away12
Live Text
Post update
Full Time
Second Half ends, Barnsley 1, Nottingham Forest 0.
Substitution
Substitution, Barnsley. Liam Lawrence replaces Jim O'Brien.
Post update
Offside, Nottingham Forest. Jamie Paterson tries a through ball, but Matt Derbyshire is caught offside.
Post update
Attempt saved. Matt Derbyshire (Nottingham Forest) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Post update
Corner, Nottingham Forest. Conceded by Jack Hunt.
Post update
Corner, Nottingham Forest. Conceded by Luke Steele.
Post update
Attempt saved. Djamel Abdoun (Nottingham Forest) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top left corner.
Post update
Hand ball by Peter Ramage (Barnsley).
Post update
Corner, Nottingham Forest. Conceded by Thomas Kennedy.
Booking
Jacob Mellis (Barnsley) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Post update
Foul by Jacob Mellis (Barnsley).
Post update
Guy Moussi (Nottingham Forest) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Post update
Offside, Nottingham Forest. Radoslaw Majewski tries a through ball, but Matt Derbyshire is caught offside.
Post update
Attempt blocked. Djamel Abdoun (Nottingham Forest) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Darius Henderson.
Post update
Foul by Jack Hunt (Barnsley).
Post update
Djamel Abdoun (Nottingham Forest) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Post update
Peter Ramage (Barnsley) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Post update
Foul by Darius Henderson (Nottingham Forest).
Substitution
Substitution, Barnsley. Emmanuel Frimpong replaces Martin Woods.
