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Gareth Davis reports from Oakwell

Derby enjoyed by far the better of proceedings in South Yorkshire but a top-class strike and a simple header from a corner sent them to a 2-0 defeat at Barnsley.

Luke Steele was busy all afternoon with fine saves from Paul Green, Kris Commons, Przemyslaw Kazmierczak and Tito Villa.

At the other end Roy Carroll had very little to do but he could do nothing about Iain Hume's superb 20-yard effort on 72 minutes.

And as time ticked down Barnsley doubled their lead through Stephen Foster, who headed in a corner, to put an extremely flattering look on the final score.

But football is all about putting the ball in the back of the net.

Derby headed to Oakwell unchanged following their 1-0 Carling Cup win away to Preston North End in midweek.

That meant Miles Addison retained his place in the middle of midfield alongside Przemyslaw Kazmierczak, while Paul Connolly once again skippered the side.

On the bench came Nathan Ellington, Steve Davies, Claude Davis and Nacer Barazite, alongside goalkeeper Stephen Bywater.

The home side included former Rams Rob Kozluk, Jon Macken and Darren Moore in their side, while Derby-born defender Bobby Hassell was among their substitutes.

Even with 90 seconds on the clock it looked as though the tone had been set for the afternoon with both sides putting in a series of crunching tackles, suggesting the game might not be one for the faint-hearted.

One particularly thunderous challenge between Addison and Mounir el Haimour could be heard across Oakwell and no doubt in the surrounding streets, with the paramedics ready to recover the ball after it felt the full force of both players.

Addison then intercepted a pass on seven minutes and strode forward before taking a punt from 25 yards with the Barnsley defence backing off.

Unfortunately he couldn't keep his shot on target but it was a positive start for the youngster.

The game's first real chance fell to Macken on 15 minutes as he turned no more than ten yards from goal after being found by Martin Devaney's cross, only for Connolly to slide in with a perfectly-timed challenge.

At the other end Tito Villa robbed Moore and fed Przemyslaw Kazmierczak, whose cross was met at the near post by Paul Green but the midfielder couldn't force the ball home.

But Derby were certainly looking more confident and playing the ball around very well as they looked to break the home side down.

And they were just inches away on 28 with Addison again the spark as he once more broke up play in midfield and strode forward before intelligently picking out Kazmierczak to his left.

The Pole had a bit of ground to move into but chose to take his shot early and his 20-yarder whistled just past the post with Luke Steele a mere spectator.

Steele was called into action for the first time three minutes before half-time as the home defence once again opened up to allow Green time to cut in from theright and tee up a low left-footer that the keeper couldn't quite gather at the first attempt.

Addison became the afternoon's first yellow card for a late challenge on Mounir el Haimour, though it appeared a harsh decision by referee Graham Salisbury as it looked nothing more than mis-timed by the Derby man.

The Rams had certainly enjoyed the best of the first period but they hadn't found the breakthrough they deserved by half-time.

Neither side made a change at half-time but Barnsley almost changed the scoreline six minutes in through skipper Brian Howard, who volleyed narrowly over after Roy Carroll had struggled to grab a cross while under pressure from Macken.

Diego Leon curled a free-kick over the crossbar but the home side had started well after the break.

The Rams' first opportunity of the second period fell to Rob Hulse, who had been found well by Commons, but the angle was tight as he fired his effort in front of goal.

A fine move involving Addison, Kazmierczak and Commons ultimately saw Hulse force Steele into a sharp save on 65 as Derby began to step their performance up again.

Seconds later Commons drove in a powerful 25-yarder that Steele couldn't hold and, from the rebound, Barnsley's stopper threw out a leg in desperation to deny Kazmierczak a first goal in Derby colours.

Stephen Foster saw yellow for a cynical foul on Villa, just as the Rams' Argentinean front-man looked to be making good ground inside the Barnsley half.

Then Dean Leacock strode out of defence to intercept a pass and move forward - reminiscent of Igor Stimac at his pomp - before feeding Villa, whose edge-of-the-box shot was saved well by Steele.

And out of nowhere the home side went in front with a wonder-goal on 72 minutes.

A free-kick was played up and headed out to the edge of the box, where substitute Kayode Odejayi bundled into Leacock and wasn't punished, but the ball rolled out to Iain Hume who thundered home a superb effort from 20 yards.

Carroll had no chance but Derby could rightly feel aggrieved having been on top for most of the game, plus the decision went against them when more often than not it would go in favour of the defending side.

On came Nathan Ellington for Villa with 13 minutes remaining as Derby tried to rescue at least a point from the game, which would be the very least they deserved.

But on 81 the home side doubled thier lead in simple style as Hume swung over a corner from the left and Foster rose unchallenged to power home a header from six yards.

Nacer Barazite and Steve Davies took over from Hulse and Commons, who looked to be hobbling, but all the noise was coming from the home faithful.

A free-kick wouldn't quite come down for Addison, while Davies came close to a header, and only a fine save from Carroll prevented Howard from making it three after a fine move.

Barnsley were more than flattered by the scoreline and if anything proved the point about Derby's domination it was the announcement late in the game that home goalkeeper Luke Steele had been chosen as the sponsors' man of the match.

Barnsley: Steele, Kozluk, Moore, Foster, Hume, Howard (C), el Haimour (Odejayi 63), Leon (Hassell 67), Souza, Macken (Mostto 90), Devaney.

Substitutes: Muller (GK), van Homoet.

Derby: Carroll, Connolly (C), Stewart, Kazmierczak, Commons (Davies 82), Villa (Ellington 77), Hulse (Barazite 82), Leacock, Addison, Albrechtsen.

Substitutes: Bywater (GK), Davis.

Attendance: 14,223 (2,921 visiting fans).