Over the years United had dominated their Yorkshire opponents but this defeat maybe came as no surprise, Third Division United being labeled the underdogs against a Tykes side who were one league above; the Blades fielded a side which included Roy McHale, the defender had joined from the Oakwell club for the new season after clinching the Fourth Division title.
United had already beaten Hull City (3-2 on aggregate) and Grimsby Town (8-4 on aggregate) in previous rounds to reach the third round stage whilst Barnsley overcame Cambridge United (5-2 on aggregate) after receiving a bye in round one.
Sheffield United went into the half-time break with a goal lead, courtesy of a Keith Edwards strike midway through the first half but was a different tale in the second half; Ronnie Glavin leveled things up on 57th minute and with six minutes remaining firstly Derrick Parker put the visitors ahead before Glavin made things safe.
The win set up a next round tie across the city at Hillsborough in which the Blue and White of Sheffield secured a 1-0 win.
:: Teams ::
| Sheffield United | 1 (1) -3 (0) | Barnsley |
| Conroy | 1 | Horn |
| Atkins | 2 | Joyce |
| Garner | 3 | Chambers |
| McHale | 4 | Glavin |
| Houston | 5 | Banks |
| Kenworthy | 6 | McCarthy |
| Moris | 7 | Souter |
| Trusson | 8 | Campbell |
| Edwards | 9 | Parker |
| Hatton | 10 | Ronson |
| Charles | 11 | Birch |
| - | Sub | Airey (8) |
Attendance: -