A point at Elland Road. Unbeaten. A great first half. A slightly squeaky-bum second. And, perhaps most importantly, a growing sense that Brentford are no longer anybody’s plucky little underdog. After chewing the fat with Bees and Leeds fans outside Elland Road, here are ten things we learned from our afternoon in Yorkshire.

1. Brentford really should have been out of sight

Let’s get the obvious one out of the way. Brentford were excellent in the first half. The Bees pressed, competed, moved the ball and attacked with purpose, while Leeds looked distinctly second best. The feeling coming out of Elland Road was almost unanimous: Brentford had left two points behind. Thiago had the big header and the follow-up, and there were other opportunities where the Bees could have put the game beyond Leeds. As one fan put it: “It should have been like 6-0.” Okay, maybe let’s not get carried away. But 2-0 certainly wouldn’t have flattered us. Keith Andrews also felt the first half belonged firmly to his side, saying afterwards that Brentford “controlled a lot of the first half” and that Leeds had only a couple of moments. The numbers backed up the eye test, too. Brentford had 11 shots before half-time and James Trafford was called upon several times to keep Leeds in it.

2. It really was a game of two halves

If the first half belonged to Brentford, the second probably belonged to Leeds. The home side reorganised, upped the intensity and, inevitably, with 35,000-plus supporters roaring them forward, started putting the Bees under pressure. One fan summed it up perfectly: “We were winning everything and getting through everything first in the first half, and then just some of the sloppiness in the second half got us.” And there was a very good reason for that change. Daniel Farke didn’t simply send Leeds back out and hope for the best. He changed the shape, moving from a back three to a back four, while bringing on Harry Wilson and Ao Tanaka at half-time. It worked. The Guardian described Farke’s tactical response as decisive, with Leeds turning the game around after Brentford had dominated the opening 45 minutes. So, fair play where it’s due. Farke saw the problem and fixed it.

3. Elland Road is still a bloody difficult place to visit

Before kick-off, most Bees would have happily accepted a point at Elland Road. After leading for so long, plenty were muttering about two points dropped. Both things can be true. Leeds are going to be a handful at home this season. Their supporters create an atmosphere that can genuinely influence a game, and once they smelled blood in the second half, the pressure became relentless. As one Brentford fan said: “A point at Elland Road, I will take that all day.” Even the Leeds manager acknowledged the quality of the opposition. Farke said it was a “good point on the road”, while recognising Brentford’s strength and the difficulty of the fixture. And that perhaps tells you something about how far the Bees have come.

4. Dominic Calvert-Lewin is exactly the sort of player you don’t want the ball dropping to

There was a horrible inevitability about it. Brentford knew Leeds would get a chance. Every home side is likely to get one big opportunity when they’re throwing everything at you. Unfortunately, that opportunity fell to Dominic Calvert-Lewin. And that, as they say, was that. It was “bread and butter” for the Leeds striker. The Bees can point to the sloppy build-up, but when the ball lands in front of a proven Premier League goalscorer inside the box, you know the rest. Calvert-Lewin’s 79th-minute finish was the reward for Leeds’ second-half pressure, and even Andrews admitted afterwards that the momentum had shifted Leeds’ way.

5. Thiago could have won it

There’s going to be plenty of talk about the equaliser, but Brentford had an immediate chance to shut everyone up. Thiago’s opportunity after the Leeds goal was enormous. Had that gone in, we’re probably talking today about a magnificent Brentford away win rather than wondering whether a point represents two dropped. That’s football and this was a game we were always likely to need to score twice if we were going to win.

6. The Bees are developing a proper away-day mentality

There was something reassuring about the way Brentford reacted to the pressure. They didn’t collapse. And more importantly they didn’t concede a second. They absorbed the Leeds onslaught and got themselves over the line. There were a few “Keystone Cops in the box” moments, according to one fan, but ultimately Brentford held their nerve. And Andrews was keen to stress that the problem wasn’t simply that Brentford had been overrun. The manager felt the second-half momentum had shifted, but his side still had enough about them to survive the late pressure. If you’re serious about finishing high up the table, you don’t need to win every away game. You need to stop losing them.

7. Brentford’s reputation has changed

This might have been the most interesting thing to come out of the fan interviews. A few years ago, the narrative would have been Leeds against little old Brentford. Not anymore. One Leeds supporter told us Brentford had “played us off the park” and predicted the Bees would finish in the top six. Another called Brentford “superb” and “well drilled.” That’s significant. We’re turning up expecting to compete. And the opposition are beginning to notice. The wider reaction backed that up. The Guardian described Brentford as “outstanding” in their opening-weekend demolition of Tottenham, and said both sides’ unbeaten starts suggest plenty of optimism for the season ahead. We’re not the plucky little side everyone expects to roll over anymore.

8. Yorkshire Bees are officially a thing

We also discovered that Brentford’s global empire now extends into Bradford. Two young Bees fans told us their dad was from Brentford, moved north and brought them up supporting the Bees. He took his kids to Griffin Park and they were hooked! Brainwashing them from an early age, apparently. There’s something brilliant about a whole family of Bees living in Yorkshire.

9. The fans are starting to believe

There’s a subtle but important change happening around Brentford. The confidence isn’t arrogance. It’s belief. Fans are now talking about top-six finishes without immediately adding: “But obviously that’s probably unrealistic.” And it isn’t just Brentford supporters doing it. One Leeds fan told us, without hesitation, that Brentford would “definitely” finish in the top six. That’s the reward for years of doing things properly. Expectation has replaced survival nerves. And when your manager can take his team to Elland Road, dominate the first half and leave disappointed not to have won, you know the standards have changed.

10. Unbeaten is unbeaten

Ultimately, despite the frustration, Brentford leave Elland Road with a point. And we’re still unbeaten. Could we have won? Absolutely. Should we have won? On the balance of the first half, probably. But Leeds came roaring back, changed shape, scored a (probably) deserved equaliser and pushed hard for a winner. As I’ve said, Farke deserves credit for that response. Andrews deserves credit for the first-half performance that put Leeds in such trouble in the first place. And perhaps the most sensible assessment came from the Brentford boss himself. “It was probably a fair result,” Andrews admitted, while acknowledging how well Leeds played in the second half. That’s probably about right. So, yes, there is a nagging feeling that Brentford left two points at Elland Road. But there is also plenty to be encouraged about. We’ve gone to one of the toughest grounds in the country, played Leeds off the park for 45 minutes, scored a superb goal, survived their second-half response and left Yorkshire unbeaten.

Dave Lane