The whistling began some 10 minutes before the end of normal time, first as an isolated shrill note amid the general hubbub, then as a ground-wide, ear-piercing shriek.
A good deal of rubbish is spoken about certain matches being like cup finals, but for Barnsley the scenes after the final whistle lacked only the presentation of medals and a lap of honour.
The plaudits were deserved. Barnsley defended well and maintained their discipline during a farcical seven minutes of injury time during which three Derby County players were booked. One of them, Dean Yates, believed himself to have been dismissed and trudged from the field only to be waved back on for an unlikely reprieve.
"They've got to turn in performances like that for us every week now," said Barnsley's manager Danny Wilson. "If they do that, we've got a chance."
This was the first time this season that Barnsley had strung two positive results together, a haul of four points from a possible six against Bolton and Derby that Wilson would gladly have snapped up beforehand. "No, I'd have paid for them," he joked.
After dominating the opening period, Neil Redfearn twice striking the crossbar, it seemed that yet another hard-luck story was unfolding for Barnsley. "It wouldn't have surprised me if we had lost again," said the match-winner Ashley Ward, "because that's the way things have been going for us."
The decisive goal came in the 67th minute when Ward, facing his former team for the first time, stuck out his studs to convert a cross from Darren Barnard.
It arrived not a moment too soon because Jim Smith's Derby had emerged from the break with renewed vigour. They had supplied arguably the game's best chance when Stefano Eranio's cross from deep on the right was knocked back into the area and Lee Carsley's close-range shot hit David Watson's legs.
Conscientious defending of the sort praised by Wilson is an effort for these sides. Both like to weave intricate patterns in midfield even when things are unravelling at the back like so many Christmas pullovers.
The threads were tugged first by Derby when Dean Sturridge shaped to clip the ball towards the far post but opted to shoot at the final moment, forcing Watson to extend a telescopic arm and concede a corner.
Thereafter, Barnsley took the upper hand. Three clean sheets in their previous four matches had boosted confidence in County's back line, which was tested thrice in the opening 20 minutes by by pile-driving free kicks from Redfearn. Nerves and tempers held out until Ward made the breakthrough, and then both were promptly shattered. The referee had not see fit to wave a single yellow card until Sturridge aimed a sly kick at the prostrate Adie Moses directly in front of the managers' dug-out in the 75th minute.
Both players went into the notebook to be followed by Yates, Carsley and the substitute Francesco Baiano deep inside the time added on. All three were pedantically punished for dissent as Barnsley struggled to hold out.
