Barnsley cruised into the second round of the FA Cup with an emphatic 7-2 win over Aldershot Town.

The fifth-tier Shots were ruthlessly dismantled by the third-tier Reds, who were clinical in front of a sparse Oakwell crowd.

Captain Cameron McGeehan stole the show with a hat-trick, while Vimal Yoganathan notched a brace and Reyes Cleary and Rylan Brownlie got in on the act.

Aldershot did give their travelling supporters something to celebrate late on when Annisuis Lewis struck twice, but they were merely consolations.

First half

The game followed the natural order of cup ties when there is a division gap from the get-go, with the higher-ranked team enjoying the lion’s share of possession.

Ziyad Larkeche was the first to penetrate the Aldershot box, receiving a pass from Cleary on the overlap and fizzing a cross towards McGeehan. The cross was drilled at Barnsley’s captain rather than to him, therefore the midfielder could only bundle harmlessly wide.

Barnsley did have the ball in the back of the net early on, when McGeehan was sent through by Daniel Johnson and rolled it into the bottom corner, only for the offside flag to appear.

Aldershot were not dealing with an onslaught but there continued to be a steady flow of promising ventures forward by the hosts. A tidy swivel from Luca Connell in the middle of the park quickly shifted into attack and he picked out Tobi Adeyemo, who saw a tame shot held comfortably by Nick Hayes.

Aldershot’s goalkeeper, however, could not get to a McGeehan header sent towards the top corner after a peach of a delivery from Jubril Okedina.

Barnsley’s feet remained firmly pressed on the gas and the lead was doubled less than 10 minutes later. A Yoganathan cross was helped along from right to left by Adeyemo before it reached the feet of Cleary, who rifled home a rasping shot.

Aldershot had spent very little time in the ascendency but did muster a brief flicker after going 2-0 down. Hakeem Sandah jinked his way down the left before cutting in to pull the trigger, although his powerful drive was straight down the throat of Cieran Slicker.

Barnsley soon returned to the front foot and did not wait long before striking for a third time. Connell split the Shots defence with an incisive pass latched on to by Yoganathan, who kept his cool to slot past Hayes.

The visitors enjoyed their best spell late in the first half, knitting together some neat passes to emerge from their camped-in state and ask questions of the hosts. Dominic Odusanya stung the palms of Slicker and Sandah then forced the goalleeper to tip a dipping shot behind at full stretch.

However, the fourth goal of the game, on the stroke of half-time, was registered by Barnsley. Aldershot failed to deal with a Larkeche cross that made its way to Yoganathan, who steered home his second of the afternoon.

Second half

Makenzie Kirk replaced Tobi Adeyemo at the interval and was presented with a glorious opportunity less than five minutes into the second half. He found himself on the end of a slick move but Hayes produced an impressive save to thwart the on-loan Portsmouth man.

Aldershot struggled to clear their lines in the aftermath and Kirk should have had a second bite of the cherry, but McGeehan elected to shoot when a pass to the forward was a better option.

With Barnsley cruising, there was no urgent need for McGeehan to make amends, yet he did so regardless as he tapped home a fifth on the rebound after Kirk was denied.

Aldershot’s defensive door continued to creak open and Barnsley refused to relent in their pursuit of goals. McGeehan completed his hat-trick just five minutes after his second, striking low and hard after connecting with a Connell pass.

The visitors were well-backed and finally gave their supporters something to celebrate late on, when Lewis slipped in behind the Barnsley backline and tucked the ball away in the bottom corner.

Lewis found the target again in similar circumstances with four minutes of normal timne remaining, although it was not the final goal of the afternoon. Barnsley bit back immediately via substitute Brownlie, who tidly swept past Hayes to make it 7-2.