If referee Scott Mathieson fancies a seaside holiday this summer he'd better stick to Blackpool in his native north-west and avoid a trip down to Portsmouth.
The Stockport official will probably be about as welcome as Alan Shearer at Ruud Gullit's leaving party after sending off Pompey defenders Andy Awford and Fitzroy Simpson in the opening 33 minutes of this clash at Oakwell.
Portsmouth's impressive unbeaten start to the new campaign was left in tatters as they were hit for six thanks to the home side's two-man advantage and patient attacking.
To be fair to Dave Bassett's men, they opened with purpose and had Pompey penned in their own half for much of the opening 10 minutes.
With only a minute on the clock, Robbie Van Der Laan stole a yard on the edge of the box but his well-struck drive was beaten away by keeper Andy Petterson.
But Portsmouth were up against it after 90 seconds of madness from central defender Awford that ruined their hopes of taking anything back to Fratton Park.
The big man was cautioned for a foul on Van Der Laan in the centre circle following another swift break away by the Tykes.
Seconds later he was on his way to an early bath after a clumsy tackle upended Craig Hignett on another of his forays down the flank.
Visiting boss Alan Ball immediately replaced Jean Francois Peron with Michael Vlachos, who slotted into the back four.
Full-back Simpson was given the licence to roam down the left flank as Ball looked to preserve some attacking influence.
It wasn't to last. Nine minutes after Awford's departure the former Manchester City man was joining him in the dressing room after Mathieson dealt him a red card for a late tackle from behind on home skipper Kevin Richardson.
The incident took the sting out of Barnsley's attacking impetus as their opponents condensed the play, but just as it looked that Pompey would make it to the break on an even keel, Darren Barnard's mis-hit shot was stabbed home by Van Der Laan a minute before the break.
Pompey almost forced an equaliser in injury-time when Stefani Miglioranzi forced his way through but new signing Kevin Miller was equal to it in the Tykes goal.
Ball made another substitution at half-time, taking off veteran striker Guy Whittingham and bringing on youngster Adam Newton.
Petterson did well to tip defender Scott Jones' clever chip over the bar and Newton flashed a shot narrowly wide to warn the home side that Pompey were still in this game.
Petterson again performed athletically to tip over from Nicky Eaden but his luck ran out on 56 minutes when Barnard caught him off his line 25 yards out and curled the ball into the top corner.
The floodgates were opening and three minutes later Matty Appleby lashed home from inside the box after a fortuitous rebound.
The fourth goal came on 62 minutes as the numerical advantage was all too apparent, Van Der Laan bundling the ball home from close range.
Barnsley's other new signing, centre-back David Tuttle, will have surely never had such an easy debut in his whole career.
Petterson on the other hand was busy and saved well from Appleby before Van Der Laan spurned his chance of a hat-trick with a slice from 10 yards out.
With 15 minutes left Barnsley made it 5-0 when Appleby won the race to the loose ball and hit a deflected shot past a despairing Petterson.
There was no respite for poor Pompey when sub Bruce Dyer nodded a looping cross to the far post back across goal where Hignett was on hand to apply the simplest of finishing touches.