BARNSLEY 0 CITY 0

The thunder boomed over Oakwell as heatwave threatened to transform into Apocalypse midway through the second half.

But this was a clear chink of light in an opening month when the club seem to have been swallowed up in the gloom.

After the dark clouds of Swindon, York and Shrewsbury and the blackest of nights against Gillingham, Saturday represented a much-needed calm after the storm.

Phil Parkinson had brandished the big stick in the light of Tuesday’s Valley Parade no-show. The squad were forced to sit through the x-rated stuff on the match DVD and the invective from the manager which accompanied it.

The training ground was not a pleasant place to be in the aftermath of a performance that had left a seething Parkinson in total agreement with those fans who had booed at the final whistle.

His pre-match performance ahead of Barnsley was powerfully impressive, calling for a proper “Bradford City” response after questioning their attitude and commitment.

Those words appeared to hit the target as a much-changed team, with six different faces from Tuesday, turned up at Oakwell in more ways than one. Tackles had a bite to them, balls were genuinely chased down, opponents were hassled and harried.

In short, this was more like the team on which Parkinson’s progress has been measured as he approaches this week’s fourth anniversary in the job.

Another defeat – and whimpering display – would have made for a horribly long run-up to next weekend’s home clash with Port Vale.

And while City head towards that still looking for a first win, the goalless draw gleaned from their Yorkshire rivals should represent a line in the sand.

The “soft centre” of recent games was stiffened up with the addition of loan signings Lee Evans and Reece Burke. Both hit the ground running.

Burke became Rory McArdle’s fourth defensive partner in as many games but the young centre half fitted in smoothly. Then again, when you’ve cut your teeth in the Premier League against the likes of Benteke, Zamora and Austin, dealing with Barnsley’s long throw-ins should hold no fear.

In front of him in a diamond-free midfield, Lee Evans looked every bit the commanding central midfielder that City have been lacking.

With Gary Liddle restored to the engine room alongside him, the eager Welshman demanded the ball on every opportunity.

His passing was not faultless but there was a constant willingness to be involved, with or without the ball. The longer the game went on, the more it seemed that Evans popped up.

Parkinson had said that those left out could have no excuses. Alan Sheehan was possibly hard done by but there was a much better shape about the team.

And there were wingers – two of them. The verdict of the City boss was that they did “okay but it’s only a start of what I feel they can do.”

But at least the sight of Mark Marshall, in particular, and Paul Anderson taking up positions to stretch the pitch was a welcome one after the narrow congestion that has been so frustrating during the diamond days.

Anderson had rattled off City’s opening shot with a crisp volley before Barnsley wideman Marley Watkins clipped the outside of the post after Ben Williams got himself stuck in no man’s land from a Marc Roberts throw-in.

With the shadow of Brad Jones on the dug-out, Williams did recover well from that early blemish and made two big saves just before half-time.

Sam Winnall drove unsighted past Stephen Darby but the keeper flung out a strong left hand to push away. Then he stood up to parry a long-range blast from Ben Pearson.

Darby had already marked Winnall’s card with an excellent covering tackle, looking more like his usual self after an uncharacteristic struggle against the Gills.

They were rare occasions when Barnsley actually got in behind City. Generally the home side’s possession-dominated approach looked easy on the eye but left Winnall too isolated.

City’s 9-1 supremacy on the corner count, including a first-half spell of four back-to-back, underlined their contribution and with a bit more calmness in front of goal, the magnificently boisterous away following would have been celebrating that elusive victory.

Steve Davies, who worked hard in his position just behind James Hanson, scorned the golden moment midway through the second half.

He alertly nicked the ball off Josh Scowen to break free on goal. Namesake Adam Davies rushed out to close him down and the City man got his radar all wrong, clipping a shot over the sliding keeper but a good yard wide of the post.

Substitutes Josh Morris and Luke James both made an impact when they appeared; more proof that Parkinson’s boot up the proverbial to his squad had hit the spot.

James twice could have broken the deadlock as Morris teased Barnsley’s right side, almost coaxing a penalty from a push by Reece Wabara.

But it was so much more satisfying from City and the response of the fans behind that goal to their efforts spoke volumes.

Lee Johnson, Barnsley’s eloquent young boss, had been expecting it.

“I know the type of characters Phil goes for,” he had said in the week. “Players that are very consistent, men, and would die for you in a ditch.”

Nobody in a white shirt was rolling over this time.

Still, it could have all been for nothing as Barnsley almost pinched it with the last action of stoppage time.

Home skipper Alfie Mawson, who was on Parkinson’s list of centre halves during the summer, rose highest from a free-kick but his header bounced down and up against the far post. City had earned that break.

McArdle said: “Tuesday couldn’t have been any worse from our point of view and we needed a reaction from that.

“We had to make sure the performance was right and hopefully the result would take care of itself. We didn’t quite get the win but the clean sheet gives us something to go on.”