Jacob Brown's goal was his fifth of the season for Barnsley
Barnsley boosted their hopes of automatic promotion as Jacob Brown's stoppage-time goal gave them victory at Walsall.
Brown fired the ball through keeper Liam Roberts' legs after his first effort was blocked when it looked like they would have to settle for a third successive goalless draw.
The win extended second-placed Barnsley's unbeaten run in League One to 19 games and they also recorded a seventh clean sheet in a row.
Walsall, though, could feel themselves hard done by, after creating the better chances and having a goal disallowed in the first half for a foul in the build-up before Isaiah Osbourne volleyed home.
They also went close after the break when Corey Blackett-Taylor squeezed the ball past keeper Jack Walton, only for Ben Williams to stretch and hook it off the line.
Barnsley boss Daniel Stendel had Cameron McGeehan and Brown back from suspension, but they were unable to impose themselves in midfield and Cauley Woodrow was an isolated figure up front for much of the game.
After Blackett-Taylor's near miss, both Josh Gordon and the lively Zeli Ismail were thwarted by the feet of Walton, playing his first game since mid-November, in the space of a minute.
Woodrow was denied by Roberts after finally creating an opportunity for himself from Mamadou Thiam's ball into the box.
But the Saddlers keeper was unable to keep out Brown's effort as the Tykes claimed a crucial win, which left them four points clear of Portsmouth and five ahead of Sunderland, who have two games in hand, with Walsall remaining in the relegation places.
