BOSS Paul Groves last night called for Cherries to make a case for the defence after watching his charges miss another golden opportunity to get a first home win on the board.

Groves's men were forced to settle for a 2-2 draw with League One rivals Brentford at Goldsands Stadium after substitute Harry Forrester's sublime 68th-minute strike earned Uwe Rosler's side a point.

Simon Francis's own goal after 10 minutes handed the visitors the lead, before Matt Tubbs's pin-point header and a Charlie Daniels penalty after 25 minutes gave Cherries a 2-1 half-time advantage.

But Groves was left to rue a poor second-half performance from his troops and after a sustained spell of Bees pressure, Forrester curled a sublime 20-yard strike into the top corner to make it 2-2.

Groves, who watched late opportunities for Tubbs and Joe Partington go begging, said: "I would think they will be happier with a point. I think we created the better chances overall but they came here and were probably one of the better sides we've played.

"I don't want to take anything away from Brentford because they had a good go at us, but we created the better opportunities.

"You have to give them credit because they pegged us back a bit in the second half. It was tough and it became frantic, but I thought we were superb in the first half.

"We were dominant in terms of pushing the opposition back, but you always have to expect the opposition to have a go at you at some stage."

Partington hit the post with a fearsome effort from distance late in the second half, while Tubbs was denied by Bees goalkeeper Simon Moore and some last ditch defending on the line minutes from time as Cherries pushed for a winner.

Groves added: "It was a bit frantic at times and we would have liked a little bit more control in terms of possession, but another goal could have finished it off.

"If you are creating chances, and some of the play in the first half was very good, then you are always positive.

"You want to win your home games, of course, and although we created a lot of chances, we do need to keep one or two more clean sheets."

Groves, meanwhile, is confident loan striker Lee Barnard will return to action in the next two weeks.

Southampton frontman Barnard has missed Cherries' past three matches due to an ankle injury.

Groves said: "The weekend might come around too soon for Lee but, hopefully, he will be back soon after that.

"Shaun MacDonald picked up a tear around his calf and he looks like he could be out for two to three weeks with that.

"Richard Hughes has a thigh strain and has been close to these past two games but hasn't quite made it.

"Lorenzo Davids is also making progress but he is another one who needs to start joining in so we can build up his work."