BRENTFORD 1 Jozefzoon (62) PRESTON NORTH END 1 Barkhuizen (54)

Ten-man Preston held out for a point in a bruising draw at Brentford after Bees winger Florian Jozefzoon cancelled out Tom Barkhuizen’s opener.

North End had to see out the final 16 minutes without Greg Cunningham after the left-back saw red for a needless second bookable challenge on Jozefzoon.

Barkhuizen opened the scoring after 54 minutes with a whipped cross from the left that eluded everyone and flew just inside the far post.

But the Londoners hit back with a superb Jozefzoon strike eight minutes later as he chested the ball down on the edge of the box and crashed a low drive inside the near post.

Barkhuizen came close to giving the visitors the lead inside two minutes, but his goal-bound snapshot was blocked by team-mate Callum Robinson.

Romaine Sawyers responded for the Bees with a sizzling low drive, after a neat Neal Maupay lay off, flashed inches wide of the far post.

Brentford’s Josh Mceachran was lucky to stay on the pitch after a last-ditch rugby tackle on Robinson as the striker surged through on goal. It was end-to-end stuff, with constant rain making fluent football difficult and allowing Preston to stifle the hosts’ fluent football with a series of niggling fouls.

The game burst into life after the break and Brentford saved their best football for after they had gone behind, Mceachran driving across goal and just wide from a well worked free-kick.

The equaliser came after substitutes Alan Judge and Emiliano Marcondes added tempo to proceedings, with Judge’s crosses a constant threat.

Ollie Watkins headed just wide at the far post as he got on the end of a free-kick from the Irishman, and moments later saw his ferocious half volley from Rudd’s punched clearance shave the outside of a post.