Pre-season: Barnsley 2 West Brom 3 - Report and pictures

Headers from Lloyd Isgrove and Kieffer Moore saw the Baggies two goals down inside just 11 minutes at Oakwell.

But Hal Robson-Kanu and James Morrison netted either side of half-time to bring things level, before Dimitri Cavare put through his own net to put Darren Moore’s men ahead.

All three goals came in the space of just eight minutes and Moore will have taken encouragement from watching several senior players gain valuable minutes on the pitch.

Yet the boss will have been somewhat less impressed with the sluggish defending which allowed Barnsley to race into a two-goal advantage and might have seen the Baggies trail further but for some wayward finishing.

Albion’s most notable piece of team news saw Craig Dawson feature for the first time in pre-season. It was also the defender’s first run out since he refused to attend the club’s training camp in Portugal, before handing in a transfer request.

Sam Johnstone, Sam Field, Gareth Barry and Oliver Burke were, meanwhile, all absent from the squad, having played in a behind-closed-doors clash with Brentford at the Baggies training ground earlier in the day.

Barnsley looked sharper than Albion from the first whistle and might have gone ahead inside the opening two minutes had Brad Potts been able to direct an effort from just 12 yards out on target.

Instead it took another four minutes for the deadlock to be broken. Alex Mowatt whipped in a corner and Isgrove, the smallest man on the pitch, stole in front of Baggies keeper Jonathan Bond to direct a header inside the near post.

Barnsley continued to spread the ball around impressively and a neat, flowing move culminated in them doubling their advantage on 11 minutes.

Daniel Pinillos, having advanced down the left, whipped in a cross to the far post which Moore rose to head home via the post.

Albion finally began to find their stride and only a well-timed block by Ethan Pinnock prevented Robson-Kanu from pulling one back.

Yet it was still Barnsley who looked more threatening and both Moore and former Walsall striker Tom Bradshaw came close to finding a third with efforts directed narrowly off target.

As it was, the Tykes almost gifted their visitors a route back into it. But having charged down Jack Walton’s clearance, Robson-Kanu was unable to beat the keeper one-on-one, with Walton then doing superbly to save Jake Livermore’s follow-up.

Robson-Kanu would eventually find the target to bring the Baggies back to within a goal, heading home Chris Brunt’s free-kick a minute before the break.

Within two minutes of the restart, the comeback was complete. This time it was Barnsley’s turn to be sloppy at the back as Pinnock was robbed on the edge of the box by Morrison, who lashed a fierce shot beyond Walton and into the top corner.

Five minutes later the turnaround was complete as Albion took the lead thanks to another piece of hapless defending. Phillips’s dangerous cross looked set to be cleared by Cavare but the Barnsley man was unable to adjust his feet in time to avoid sending the ball past Walton and into his own net.

The Baggies weren’t troubled after that until the final 20 minutes when Bond did superbly to keep out Potts’s long-range effort diving to his right. Bond then produced an even better stop to deny substitute Cameron McGeehan, while Albion debutant Harvey Barnes, on as a substitute, saw a shot saved by Walton at the other end.

Moore then missed a glorious chance to level at the death but blazed over from just 12 yards out.

Teams

Barnsley (4-4-2): Walton, Cavare, Pinnock, Lindsay, Pinillos, Isgrove, Mowatt, Potts, Thiam, Moore, Bradshaw Subs not used: McCarthy, Jackson, Bird, Williams, Moncur, Adeboyejo, McGeehan, Davies (gk).

Albion (4-4-2): Bond, Nyom (Wilson 76), Bartley (Cranie 70), Dawson (Hegazi HT), Gibbs (Melbourne HT), Phillips, Morrison (Barnes 63), Livermore (Edwards 89), Brunt (Harper 82), Rodriguez, Robson-Kanu (Rondon 76) Subs not used: Palmer (gk).