Barnsley had their captain sent off in a 1-0 defeat at Sheffield United on Saturday lunchtime.

The home side were ahead when their striker Leon Clarke and Barnsley skipper Angus MacDonald were both sent off for an off the ball incident in the Reds penalty box near the end of the first half. The Reds did not have a shot on target while the home side could have won by a wider margin.

Paul Heckingbottom kept the same team for the third game in a row, though new French striker Mamadou Thiam was on the bench. Adam Davies made an outstanding save in the sixth minute to deny Billy Sharp from close range after left wing-back Enda Stevens had pulled the ball back to him.

The goal came from almost the exact same move on 17 minutes but this time Sharp's finish was better and Davies could not keep the ball out of his net.

Adam Hammill and Tom Bradshaw both fired off target from long range after impressive counter-attacks but the Reds struggled to make an impact in the first half. MacDonald and Clarke were then both sent off and Heckingbottom brought on Ethan Pinnock for Jason McCarthy as well as Ike Ugbo for George Moncur at half-time. The Reds reverted a 3-4-2 formation with Ugbo joining Bradshaw up front and Pinnock partnering Matty Pearson and Adam Jackson in a back three.

The Blades, who did not make any changes but used a similar formation, started brightly in the second half with several long range efforts going just over the bar before Mark Duffy cut in from the left and fired into the side netting. Brad Potts had a chance to level after an hour but he headed a Hammill corner well over the bar.

The same player then had a shot blocked in the box while, at the other end, a stretching Sharp could only divert a Chris Basham cross just wide at the far post. The home side thought they had doubled their lead with 20 minutes to play when Davies fumbled a David Brooks shot from the left side of the box through his legs but it rolled across the line and hit the far post.

Davies then made a much better save as he clawed a Jack O'Connell header out of the top right corner after he was totally unmarked from John Fleck's corner. Barnsley exerted some pressure late on, with substitute Thiam having a shot blocked, but were beaten.

Barnsley (4-1-4-1): Davies; McCarthy (Ugbo HT), MacDonald, Jackson, Pearson; Williams; Hammill, Potts, Moncur (Pinnock HT) Hedges; Bradshaw (Thiam 79) Unused: Townsend, Barnes, Bird, Mowatt. Yellow cards: McCarthy, Hammill Red cards: MacDonald Sheffield United (3-5-2): Blackman; O'Connell, Basham, Wright; Freeman, Coutts, Fleck, Duffy (Brooks 66) Stevens; Clarke, Sharp (Evans 75). Unused: Lundstram, Lafferty, Eastwood, Carruthers, Brayford. Goals: Sharp 17 Yellow cards: Sharp, Stevens Red cards: Clarke