A 95th-minute penalty from Brian Howard earned Barnsley a 2-2 draw against all the odds to deny Scunthorpe a much-needed win at Glanford Park.Apart from Grant McCann's 74th minute goal, the Tykes had done little to warrant coming back from the two-goal deficit handed them by goals from Ian Morris and Kelly Youga.

But, with just seconds of injury-time remaining, referee Clive Oliver adjudged that Scunthorpe captain Andy Crosby had handled the ball inside the box following a scramble and Howard duly dispatched his eighth goal of the season.

It was rough justice for Nigel Adkins' Scunthorpe side, who had been by far the better side and looked set to record their first home win in 10 games and move out of the Championship relegation zone.

The Iron had been excellent value for their lead, although the first half had been a story of frustration for them until Morris' goal, as they constantly found their path to goal blocked by Heinz Muller.

The highly-rated German goalkeeper twice produced acrobatic saves to palm away long-range efforts from Morris and he also saved well from Jim Goodwin, while Jack Cork dipped an effort over the bar from the edge of the area.

Martin Paterson could also have broken the deadlock, firstly when he could only place an awkward volley into the hands of Muller when free in the box and secondly when he paused for too long when one-on-one with Muller, allowing Lewin Nyatanga to recover and make a superb tackle.

Scunthorpe were completely dominant by this stage and fully deserved the lead given to them by Morris' first goal of the season just five seconds shy of the end of the half.

An opening was worked on the edge of the box and Paterson and Cork combined well to play Paul Hayes in and the former Barnsley man did well to drag the ball back to the waiting Morris, who made no mistake in firing home past a stranded Muller.

The goal could not have come at a worse time for Barnsley - and things did not get any better for them when Youga doubled the lead just two minutes into the second period.

Kevan Hurst had already seen a good effort blocked when Youga drifted in down the right-hand side of the area, allowing him to almost pass a left-footed shot under the body of Muller - who should have done better.

To Barnsley's credit, they did rally somewhat afterwards and were worthy of McCann's 74th minute goal.

Howard and Kayode Odejayi had already spurned good chances by slicing effort wide of the goal, before McCann's strike.

After Odejayi proved to be too strong for Ian Baraclough, forcing the defender to give away a free-kick, McCann saw his initial 20-yard effort thump into the wall, before standing his ground to superbly volley home the rebound.

To underline their growing role in the game, Barnsley were soon going close again when Jamal Campbell-Ryce forced a superb save from Joe Murphy and Michael Coulson had an effort blocked by Baraclough.

Then, when it looked as though Scunthorpe had seen the game out following a superb saving tackle from Marcus Williams on Odejayi, the penalty was awarded and Howard ensured a spectacular finish.

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