Cardiff City lost ground on League One leaders Lincoln City as they were held to a 1-1 draw with Barnsley.
The Bluebirds did, however, avoid consecutive defeats having surrendered top spot in League One after their 2-0 defeat to Lincoln on Saturday,
But, there was no signs of a hangover at Oakwell Stadium as Brian Barry-Murphy's side raced into an early lead through Rubin Colwill on 11 minutes.
A beautiful switch of play found Ollie Tanner on the right, and his cutback was calmly guided into the bottom corner by Colwill for his first goal since returning from injury.
Tanner, influential throughout, had chances to double the lead, but the misses proved costly as Barnsley equalised with their first shot on target.
Calum Scanlon, who looked bright on his first Bluebirds start, lost possession cheaply in midfield and the hosts were ruthless.
Tom Bradshaw whipped in a low cross, and Scott Banks took one touch before slotting past Nathan Trott to level the contest.
That goal lifted Conor Hourihane's side, and they should have gone ahead before the break when Corey O'Keefe teed up David McGoldrick, but the in-form forward with 11 league goals in his past 11 league games, fired over from close range.
After the interval there was little to split the two sides as the best chance came when substitute Cian Ashford stung the palms of Owen Goodman following a great switch of play from Cardiff's goal-scorer Colwill.
And while Cardiff continued to push for the lead as Colwill had a chance to grab his second of the game, Barnsley looked threatening on the break as McGoldrick - having robbed Dylan Lawlor of possession - could only steer his chipped finish on the angle over the bar.
David Turnbull then went close to finding the winner as his long-range effort arrowed just wide, while McGoldrick continued to prove a threat but his shot was straight at Trott.
Cardiff struggled to create clear openings following their early goal and a draw meant it was just one win in their last four as they moved four points behind leaders Lincoln City, though extended their lead to nine points over Bolton Wanderers in third.
For Barnsley, they remain in 12th and seven points off the League One play-off places with 12 games still to play. They travel to Mansfield next on Saturday.
Meanwhile Cardiff will hope to replicate leaders Lincoln's 1-0 success over Exeter this evening, when they travel to face the Grecians on Saturday 14 March (15:00 GMT).
Barnsley: Goodman, O'Keeffe, de Gevigney, Shepherd, O'Connell, Bland (Watson 89'), Connell, Banks (Phillips 65'), Yoganathan, McGoldrick, Bradshaw (Cleary 65'). Subs Not Used: Flavell, Ogbeta, Gent, Lennon.
Cardiff City: Trott, Ng, Lawlor (Fish 80'), Chambers, Scanlon (Bagan 56'), Wintle, Robertson (Turnbull 69'), R.Colwill, Tanner, Willock (Ashford 56'), Kellyman (Robinson 69'). Subs Not Used: Kpakio, J.Colwill.
