Phil Brown suffered his first defeat as Preston North End manager after goals from Garry O'Connor and Danny Haynes secured Barnsley a 2-0 win at Oakwell.
O'Connor's 23rd minute goal was slightly fortunate as his shot deflected wickedly off North End defender Leon Cort and beyond Andy Lonergan in the North End goal.
However, Lonergan came to his side's rescue on a number of occasions, but his weak clearance in injury time allowed Barnsley substitute Jacob Butterfield to break clear and leave Hayes with a simple finish.
Brown opted for an attacking 4-3-3 formation, but Preston rarely threatened Tykes goalkeeper Luke Steele' as on-loan Chelsea youngster Jacob Mellis dictated proceedings impressively on his debut for the homeside.
Steele was only really tested two minutes from time when he dived full-length to palm away a swerving free-kick from Lilywhites substitute Keith Treacy.
Mark Robins' side have now lost just once in their past seven home games, while Preston are seven points from safety at the foot of the table.
Deadline day loan signings Jacob Mellis and Frank Nouble made their Barnsley debuts after joining from Chelsea and West Ham respectively, while Ian Ashbee and Leon Clarke started their first games for Preston.
Clarke should have put the awayside in the lead after nine minutes, but his faint back post touch from Billy Jones' in-swinging corner trickled wide of the post.
Barnsley's first chance came in the 16th minute when England Under-19 international Mellis was given space to unleash a 25-yard drive that Lonergan could only parry away.
Leon Cort then did well to muscle in front of O'Connor and hack clear the rebound.
O'Connor then got the better of Cort in the cruellest circumstances to give his side the lead after a surging run from on-loan Manchester City full-back Kieran Tripper had set up the Barnsley attack.
Steele saw his first action of the half 10 minutes before the interval when he saved well from Iain Hume's stinging 25 yard strike.
A sweeping cross-field ball from Mellis instigated a Barnsley counter-attack in the 42nd minute, which resulted in Hayes being denied first by a last-ditch Conor McLaughlin block then a stunning Lonergan save.
Sean St Ledger and Jones entered the referee's notebook for ugly challenges on Nouble and Tripper respectfully.
Barnsley could have made it two when Tripper's 64th-minute free-kick found Diego Arismendi unmarked, only for the ball to bounce harmlessly off the Uruguayan midfielder's shins and safely into Lonergan's arms.
Robins' side ended the stronger of the two as Lonergan was forced to make a set of fine stops from Hayes, Nouble and Mellis in a frantic finish.
Then came Steele's finest moment as he saved brilliantly from Treacy's set piece, before his opposite number's night ended in unfortunate fashion and Hayes sealed the points with a simple tap in.
After the game North End manager Phil Brown said:
"Everybody tells you habits of losing, it is habits of winning that I'm interested in. We need to get that into the changing room as quickly as we possibly can. If that takes a shock to the system then so be it. We need to get across the winning line."
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