BARNSLEY came from 1-0 down on 80 minutes to beat Bolton Wanderers in a league match for the first time in 18 attempts and secure a brilliant Boxing Day win.
The Trotters opened the scoring midway through an even first half but Barnsley were on top in the second period and levelled late on through Davis Keillor-Dunn before Adam Phillips won it.
It was a deserved win for the impressive Reds and a fantastic reaction to the 4-0 home humiliation to Leyton Orient on Saturday.
They overtook Bolton and moved up from ninth to seventh in League One, still a point off the top six.
The Reds ended a wait for a league victory over Bolton since August 1997 when Eric Tinkler and Georgi Hristov netted in a 2-1 Premier League victory at Oakwell.
They also gained some revenge for the play-off semi-final aggregate loss at the same stadium in May.
They continued their excellent away form with a seventh victory on the road this season – a stark contrast with two just wins at Oakwell.
The Reds have still not lost on Boxing Day for a decade, since a 1-0 defeat to Preston North End in 2014.
There were joyous scenes at the end between the delighted players and away end.
In the first game of four in ten days, Darrell Clarke made three changes from the side which lost 4-0 at home on Saturday to Orient.
Luca Connell and Adam Phillips were back in the midfield after illness while striker Max Watters also returned to the 11. Dropping out were Matty Craig, who was not in the squad at all, as well as benched duo Kelechi Nwakali and Stephen Humphrys.
Barnsley had the first chances of the game as, after Bolton midfielder George Thomason lost the ball, Jon Russell curled a 20-yard shot which was tipped over by goalkeeper Nathan Baxter.
From the resulting Georgie Gent corner, Conor McCarthy headed in but the referee ruled it out – apparently for a foul by Mael de Gevigney.
Bolton should certainly have taken the lead on 18 minutes but, after Phillips' clearance was charged down in the box, Aaron Collins somehow totally missed the ball as it rolled across the face of goal a few yards out. Seconds earlier, Connell had made an heroic block in the box from Scott Arfield.
At the other end, from a counter-attack, Watters was played through by Davis Keillor-Dunn and knocked the ball past the goalkeeper but the effort – which may have been an attempted pass back to his strikepartner – was weak and cleared by a defender.
Arfield saw a long-range shot easily saved then Collins volleyed wide of the top left corner from a similar distance.
The game was very frenetic and open but Bolton increasingly looked the more dangerous and opened the scoring on 27 minutes with a very sloppy goal from a Barnsley viewpoint.
After Watters lost the ball having received a McCarthy pass under pressure, Klaidi Lolos swapped passes with ex-Red John McAtee then easily rounded Gent on the right of the box before hitting it shot which Ben Killip allowed to squirm through him. Killip was wearing a protective mask on his face after a training ground injury, but could not provide adequate protection for his goal.
Barnsley responded well. Phillips missed a big chance to level when he beat the offside trap to bring down a fine McCarthy pass over the top but was denied one-on-one by Baxter. The goalkeeper then tipped wide a deflected long-range Gent effort.
Ex-Red Gethin Jones made a vital clearance from a Russell cross then McCarthy's header from a Corey O'Keeffe cross was easily caught by Baxter.
Barnsley had generally matched their hosts in the first half but went in behind.
They began the second half well on top and, after an O'Keeffe corner was headed out by Ricardo Santos, former Bolton player Connell's low 20-yard effort hit the base of the right post.
Russell looked certain to level but blazed over 12 yards out in plenty of space after Phillips played Watters in on the right and the striker cut the ball back from the byline.
Russell then saw an effort from a very tight angle on the left of the box easily held by Baxter following a jinking run at the end of a good move.
Substitute Barry Cotter saw a low long-range shot go just wide of the bottom right corner.
The equaliser arrived on 80 minutes when, after a touch by Stephen Humphrys, Phillips clipped a fine pass from the right wing to the left of the box where Keillor-Dunn chested the ball down before firing into the bottom right corner.
The Reds netted again when Kelechi Nwakali's clever free-kick released O'Keeffe on the right and he pulled the ball back for Phillips to smash home from about 15 yards out.
Barnsley (3-5-2): Killip; de Gevigney, Pines, McCarthy; O'Keeffe, Phillips (Yoganathan 90mins), Connell (Nwakali 59), Russell, Gent (Cotter 74); Watters (Humphrys 59), Keillor-Dunn.
Unused: Cosgrove, Smith, Lofthouse.
Yellow cards: McCarthy, Cotter, Nwakali, Yoganathan.
Goals: Keillor-Dunn 80, Phillips 88.
Bolton (3-5-2): Baxter; Jones, Santos, Forrester; Williams, Arfield (Dacres-Cogley 65mins), Thomason, Lolos (Mendes Gomes 78), Schon (Osei-Tutu 72); McAtee (Charles 72), Collins.
Unused: Southwood, Johnston, Sharples-Ahmed.
Yellow cards: Lolos, Williams, Thomas, Charles.
Goals: Lolos 27.
