A two goal lead again squandered again at Griffin Park, but this one felt different.

In the circumstances, it’s hard to ask much more of this team. Rovers’ defeat here 13 months ago was the start of a run which would see Tony Mowbray’s side take just four points from the next 33 available and end any hopes of a play-off push.

In the course of the next week Rovers will look to make what on face value looks a good point in to an excellent one as they head in to back-to-back home games with Stoke City and Swansea City full of optimism.

They have previously squandered such opportunities, taking one point from games with Luton and Nottingham Forest, and then two from Wigan and Birmingham over the festive period, but there seems a real determination among this group not to let this season fizzle out.

The fact time was spent between 3pm and 5pm checking the scores of the teams in the play-off mix, and how we can’t rule out this being a last ever trip to Griffin Park, shows Rovers are very much in that conversation with 12 games to go. And for that they deserve credit.

They aren’t the most fluent football team in the world, they don’t possess the individual talent of Brentford’s fearsome front three, but what they do is more than make up for that in sheer endeavour and graft.

The sight of Lewis Travis, four minutes in to added time of a game where Rovers spent large parts without the ball, still tearing forward in lung-bursting fashion was the perfect illustration.

“If you don’t battle when you come here you will get well beaten,” said Mowbray post-match after his side had done just that.

It seems those qualities, tied in with some classy finishing from Adam Armstrong, is what is keeping them in the play-off picture.

While Armstrong is stealing the show at the top end of the pitch, Christian Walton is having a timely run of form between the posts. At times it seemed he and Said Benrahma were engaged in their own duel.

Benrahma would eventually beat Walton from the spot, a penalty awarded by a referee who probably felt he had been overly generous in awarding one to Rovers eight minutes after the re-start so evened it up with a decision Mowbray branded 'ridiculous'

It was going to take a lot to beat Walton in that form, Ollie Watkins coming up with just that as he arrowed a shot in to the top corner after taking down a long ball forward to reduce the arrears.

Rovers buckled under pressure and saw so many games run away from them last season, none moreso than this fixture last season.

So when Benrahma levelled with 20 minutes to play, with Rovers feeling a sense of injustice, there were fears there would be a repeat on the cards.

And while Walton had to come up with a big save with two minutes to play, denying Benrahma with his feet, and Brentford spending much of the dying stages in their attacking third, it was Rovers who had the best chance to win it in the final quarter.

Instinctive finishes and long-range strikes have been Armstrong’s goals of choice of late, but Griffin Park held its breath as he raced clear on goal with just David Raya to beat.

He had done it with aplomb in the 11th minute, lobbing the ball over the advanced Spaniard to put Rovers ahead after collecting a long Walton kick forward.

And he took his tally to 12 for the season when converting a 53rd minute penalty, which appeared soft, as Raya was adjudged to have pulled down John Buckley.

But the Spaniard came up with the key save, denying Armstrong with his legs, with the attacker admitting post-match he initially thought about rounding the ‘keeper.

That meant it was to be a share of the spoils, but the reception the Rovers fans gave to their side as they trudged off after 90 minutes of hard graft, showed their appreciation from what they had seen.

Before Armstrong’s opener, Brentford had sounded a warning, the enigmatic Benrahma splitting them open with the pass of the match, only for Walton to be quick off his line to deny Bryan Mbuemo taking the ball around him.

The wind was taking an effect on proceedings which would become the Benrahma v Walton battle momentarily, the Rovers ‘keeper equal to efforts in the 22nd and 26th minutes.

Ryan Nyambe made a goal-saving block to deny the Algerian, with Walton having saved again from Benrahma when it appeared the Bees attackers were queuing up to equalise after good work down the right by Henrik Dalsgaard.

Rovers would make it in to the break ahead, with Bradley Johnson and Dominic Samuel firing wide moments before the break as Mowbray’s men tried to sound a warning of their own.

As the second half wore on, the home crowd became a bit of restless, Benrahma ballooning a shot over the bar symptomatic of their frustration in the final third.

Watkins’ goal reduced the arrears just after the hour, before the contentious penalty set up a grandstand finish.

To their credit, Rovers still posed a threat at 2-2, Stewart Downing’s free kick saved by Raya, who came up with his best save to deny Armstrong.

Walton was required once more for Rovers, keeping out another Benrahma effort with his feet, and with that a breathless encounter came to an end.

Brentford will undoubtedly finish in the top six, in Benrahma they have one of the division’s stand-out players and in Watkins, someone who knows where the back of the net is.

Rovers are more a team than just a make-up of individuals, all of who have played a part in keeping them more than competitive in every game.

How ever the rest of the season pans out, there seems plenty to be optimistic about, with Mowbray’s three-year anniversary symptomatic of the upward journey he has taken this team on. There feels more chapters left to go in his time at the club, a journey the fans feel fully on board with.