Wrexham fall to first defeat in nine against Barnsley

First-half goals from Davis Keillor-Dunn and Adam Phillips fired Barnsley back into the play-off places with a 2-1 win against title-chasing Wrexham on New Year’s Day.

Max Cleworth’s late strike was not enough to stop Phil Parkinson’s side from dropping out of the top two.

Wrexham had the ball in the net within the opening moments, but George Dobson was flagged for offside.

It was the home side who broke the deadlock with 11 minutes played.

Phillips’s cross-field ball found Keillor-Dunn, who curled in his 10th goal of the campaign.

The Reds doubled their lead midway through the first half when Phillips struck from outside the area after a mistake from Eoghan O’Connell.

After the break, Corey O’Keeffe produced a fine goal-line block to deny substitute Steven Fletcher.

Wrexham pushed but Ben Killip produced numerous saves from close range.

Cleworth set up a tense finale as he smashed home after a goalmouth scramble with 10 minutes to play, but Barnsley held on.