Daniel Nardiello scored twice as Barnsley took a giant step towards Coca-Cola Championship safety with a comprehensive demolition of struggling Southend.

The former Manchester United trainee blasted a long-range opener after 15 minutes and followed Kyel Reid's 30th-minute second with a header five minutes after the break.

Mark Gower, unlucky with a succession of chances throughout, clawed one back in the 69th minute, but it was too little too late for a side desperately close to relegation.

The Shrimpers, who have lost 21 games this season, now sit three points off safety with three games remaining, while Barnsley put two points between themselves and the drop zone.

With such high stakes, no-one expected a relaxed afternoon and only five seconds had passed when Barnsley's Istvan Ferenczi provided a taste of the battle ahead with a thunderous foul on Adam Barrett.

The favour was duly returned moments later, and again countless times in a frenetic opening, but in between the grappling for physical supremacy a few chances were created.

Jamal Campbell-Ryce teased the Barnsley defence with a looping cross in the first minute, while Mark Gower brought a save from Nick Colgan seconds later.

Gower reiterated his threat with a crisp drive from 25 yards and Steven Hammell also came close, but ultimately it was Barnsley who took the lead in the 14th minute.

Sam Togwell collected the ball on the right flank before threading a pass inside for Nardiello.

The striker took a quick look up before swerving the ball into the top corner.

Gower led the Southend response, stinging Colgan's fingers with a 25-yard piledriver, but in truth they offered little in resistance to the Yorkshire club's dominance.

The one-sided nature of the occasion was underlined when Reid scored from the byline on the half hour after his initial corner was not cleared.

Campbell-Ryce, Gower and Kevin Maher all came close as Southend scrapped to get back into the game, but could not find the finishing touch.

Indeed, their plight was not helped after the break.

Little more than five minutes of the second half had been played when Reid collected the loose ball after Southend only half cleared a corner.

Swivelling to face the action, the defender whipped a cross into the box and Nardiello rose highest to head his second of the afternoon.

Peter Clarke found himself in space as Southend tried in vain but fell short of the mark and the three goal margin remained.

The sides traded half-chances as the game developed into a battle between long-range optimists, but Southend eventually got the glimmer of hope they craved.

Typically it was Gower, their most threatening player throughout, who applied the finishing touch in the 67th minute, blasting into the bottom corner after Barnsley succumbed to a spell of pressure.

It served to spur the strugglers on, Lee Bradbury and Alan McCormack both coming close, but the second goal proved elusive.

It was Barnsley that came closest to adding to their tally when Grant McCann rattled the bar from 25 yards.

Campbell-Ryce then came close with a late header as the game verged on pulsating, and Hammell came even closer when he curled a free-kick against the post in the final minute.

It was a fast finish from Southend, but ultimately it was the slow start that did for them.

Teams

Southend Flahavan, Francis, Clarke, Barrett, Hammell,Campbell-Ryce, McCormack, Maher, Gower, Harrold,Foran (Bradbury 64).

Subs Not Used: Collis, Hunt, Sodje, Moussa.

Booked: Clarke.

Goals: Gower 69.

Barnsley Colgan, Kay, Nyatanga, Paul Reid, Heckingbottom,Devaney, Howard (McCann 56), Togwell, Kyel Reid, Ferenczi,Nardiello (Rajczi 67).

Subs Not Used: Lucas, Jones, Austin.

Booked: Nardiello, Howard, Heckingbottom.

Goals: Nardiello 15, Kyel Reid 29, Nardiello 51.

Att: 10,089

Ref: K Stroud (Hampshire).