Rushden & Diamonds suffered their first home defeat of the year when they went down 1-0 to a battling Brentford side who recorded their first away win of the season.
The home side started well and Alan Julian made a brilliant save in the ninth minute to deny Onandi Lowe after a fine cross from skipper Paul Underwood.
In the 17th minute Lowe caused some danger in the Brentford defence when he headed down Paul Hall's cross but no-one was there to take advantage.
The Bees took the lead in the 19th minute when Tony Rougier's free kick deflected off the head of Stephen Hunt to leave Billy Turley helpless.
In the 35th minute Marcus Bignot saw his goal-bound shot strike Kevin O'Connor and rebound to safety.
Rushden brought on substitute Duane Darby in the second half to replace the injured Andy Burgess and they began to cause problems against a resolute Brentford defence.
In the 52nd minute Lowe should have done better when he headed wide when unmarked following Stuart Gray's corner and two minutes later Darby controlled the ball well in the box but his shot was straight at Julian.
Rushden continued to dominate the play and Julian was in constant action. In the 68th minute he made a fine save from Bignot's fierce shot and was again the hero pushing aside David Bell's shot following another cross from Hall.
With 12 minutes left Julian produced his best save in a faultless performance when he dived to push aside Lowe's powerful header.
Brentford brought on loanee Tommy Wright and he almost had a dream debut when he headed into the side-netting following a cross from Rougier.
Rushden continued to bombard the Brentford goal but the visitors defence held firm although Darby should have equalised in the 86th minute when he failed to connect properly when left unmarked following Hall's cross.