Saints and Brentford played out their second 1-1 draw of the season as the Bees hit back in the second half at Griffin Park.

Lloyd James' early strike put Saints in command, a lead Alan Pardew's side held long into the second half, as Kelvin Davis made some impressive saves in the Saints goal.

The best from Davis came from a penalty which was awarded midway through the second period which he got down to, denying captain Kevin O'Connor an equalising goal.

The hosts got their reply though in the last ten minutes of play as Leon Legge crashed home a header from close range to square things up, as Saints were denied all three points late on in South London.

Brentford: Szczesny, O'Connor, Dickson, Smith, Legge, Strevens (Cort 56), Bean, Weston, Foster, Wood Saunders 56), MacDonald. Subs (not used): Price, Bennett, Hunt, Diagouraga, Osborne.

Saints: Davis, Otsemobor, Fonte, Seaborne, Mills, Antonio (Papa Waigo 88), James (Schneiderlin 35), Wotton, Lallana, Lambert, Barnard (Holmes 77). Subs (not used): Bialkowski, Harding, Thomas, Jaidi.

Referee: Mr. C. Sarginson

Attendance: 6,501 (including 1,783 away)

Alan Pardew restored Jose Fonte, Daniel Seaborne and Jon Otsemobor to his defence whilst Lee Barnard made his first league start for the Club after joining Saints the previous week.

Saints kicked off in their blue and yellow away strip defending the stand holding the travelling support which packed out the away end once more for a League One fixture on the road.

Early pressure from the visitors as early as the second minute saw Lee Barnard's lofted pass over the two central defenders to find Antonio, but the ball wouldn't quite drop for the winger has he lobbed it towards goal. His shot only narrowly went past Wojciech Szczesny's right post.

The endeavour from Saints paid off when Alan Pardew's side took the lead in the fourth minute. From the left touchline, Rickie Lambert flicked the ball back into the centre where Lloyd James was waiting. The Welshman teed the ball up before unleashing a rasping shot straight into the back of the net for his second career goal.

Brentford tested the water soon after though and Marcus Bean's dangerous looking run took him past three Saints players before he picked out Myles Weston on the left, but the winger's shot flashed well wide of Kelvin Davis' goal.

On 11, Barnard played in Antonio once more on the edge of the area, but the midfielder's low volley hit the side netting much to the Bees' relief.

At the other end the hosts went closer to finding a way past Davis, but Charlie MacDonald's connection to a low cross flew wide of the near post after quarter of an hour's play.

Adam Lallana was the next to go close for the visitors as the game swung back up the other end. The youngster curled a 20 yard shot on to the top of crossbar which had the 'keeper beaten but unfortunately for Saints the ball didn't drop close to any blue shirts.

Just shy of the half hour mark Antonio went close yet again as he collected the ball on the right of the box and hit a firm, low effort towards the near corner which Szczesny had to get a touch on to turn it past the post. Moments later Barnard headed Jon Otsemobor's cross wide.

Goalscorer Lloyd James succumbed to an injury ten minutes before the break, with Morgan Schneiderlin returning from suspension taking to the field in his place.

The visitors continued to get the ball down and play on a surface not conducive to a free flowing passing game, but Brentford ended the half with some late pressure and Kevin O'Connor's shot from the edge of the area required a smart save from Davis as Saints saw out the first 35 minutes with their lead intact.

Half Time: Brentford 0-1 Saints

Saints' first chance of the new half fell to Barnard who scampered in behind the Bees' backline to latch on to Lallana's ball forward but just as he steadied himself to shoot he lost his balance and squirmed his shot wide one on one with the 'keeper.

Andy Scott's side nearly made the visitors pay for that miss moments later as first Weston was denied by Davis and then Mills cleared off the line from a firm shot that went through a crowd of bodies as Saints lived a little dangerously at the back.

Lambert almost benefitted from Barnard's harrying of Szczesny who rushed out of his goal to clear the ball but in doing so only found the former Bristol Rovers man. Lambert quickly re-adjusted his feet to try and lob the ball home, but he couldn't find the target from range.

The Bees introduced Carl Cort and Sam Saunders to the action to freshen up their attacking options and it was the latter of the two who almost forced an equaliser as he broke away on the right before cutting inside and hitting a low shot which Davis had to turn away. Worryingly, the ball spilt out towards MacDonald, but the angle was too acute for the striker to squeeze a shot on target from as he struck the post from close range.

Brentford had a golden chance to make their second half pressure pay when Wotton was adjudged to have handled the ball inside the area. The midfielder was booked for his protest at the decision as Kevin O'Connor had the opportunity from 12 yards to put the match back on level terms.
Kelvin Davis had other ideas though as he sprung down to his right and pushed the 70th minute spot kick away with his outstretched arm.

Lee Holmes replaced Barnard inside the last fifteen minutes of play with the new striker putting in another good shift on his first league start for the Club.

The hosts started to chip away again though and just when they thought it wasn't going to be their day when Davis made another fine stop from a close range header, they equalised from the resulting corner in the 83rd minute, as defender Leon Legge powered in a header from the centre of the area.

Papa Waigo was introduced for Antonio as the clock started to run down and in four minutes of additional time no winner could be found although Lallana's furiously whipped free-kick was only just kept out with the last kick of the game.

Full Time: Brentford 1-1 Saints