Northampton overcame the loss of Matt Dawson and a 10-point deficit to emerge with a battling draw from their fractious Premiership encounter with Harlequins at Franklin's Gardens on Friday.

Dawson, unceremoniously dumped by England coach Clive Woodward earlier in the week, lasted less than 30 minutes of an unhappy evening as Harlequins - two men down at one stage - tossed away a winning advantage after the interval, leaving Saints to scramble their way out of the bottom three.

The result also allows Saints coach John Steele to hold his head high, ending a run of four successive defeats, amid rumours that he is about to be moved into a backroom role to accommodate the arrival of former All Black chief Wayne Smith.

After bankrolling the rebuilding of the stadium and investing heavily in the playing side, owner Keith Barwell has become increasingly frustrated at Saints' inability to build on the 2000 Heineken Cup triumph.

With supporters beginning to turn against the team, it appears that his patience has finally cracked.

In tonight's programme notes, Barwell promised 'changes would be made' in an attempt to stop the headlong descent towards the lower reaches of the table.

Lacking a number of key men due to international calls, Northampton produced a commendable fightback from what seemed to be a hopeless position. But the result cannot gloss over what was at times an abysmal display.

Northampton looked disjointed and badly lacking in confidence. At times their handling and set-piece play was so bad it bordered on the comical.

But for Barwell of course, it is no laughing matter. Dawson's departure apart, the opening period was a forgettable affair littered with unforced errors.

What Quins did though was survive an uncomfortable eight minutes minus two men, after the sin-binnings of hooker Ace Tiatia and lock Bill Davison for rough-house tactics as the two teams were still getting into the game.

Tiatia was lucky to escape further punishment for an uppercut which though unintentional, came perilously close to the chin of opposite number Steve Thompson.

Ben Gollings had already galloped down his left wing with promise once when he took Paul Burke's long pass and dived over to give the visitors the lead after 22 minutes.

Burke converted then emerged with a 50record from two touchline penalty attempts to ensure his side held a seven-point advantage after the break after Ali Hepher's first shot at goal had briefly threatened a Saints rally.

Burke suffered another penalty failure with his first attempt of the second period, but made amends shortly afterwards with a superb effort from the left touchline.

To their credit, Northampton tried to rally but completely lacked direction and Hepher's inexplicable decision to attempt a speculative crossfield kick when the home side had created a three man overlap appeared to sum up their night.

But Hepher refused to let his head drop and after stroking over his second penalty, finished off a bludgeoning attacking move by diving over after Craig Moir's slip looked like costing Saints a scoring chance.

The fly-half kept his nerve to convert and from nowhere Saints were level. Burke and Mark Mapletoft were wide with drop goal attempts for the visitors and Nick Beal narrowly failed for the home side.

But at the final whistle, the spoils were shared, even if the result was useful to neither side.

Teams:

Northampton: Shaw, Moir, Jorgensen, Tucker, Beal, Hepher, Dawson, Todd, Thompson, Sturgess, Phillips, Hunter, Rennick, Blowers, Soden.

Replacements: Malone for Dawson (28), Brotherstone for Thompson (64), Budgen for Sturgess (50), Newman for Phillips (71).

Not Used: Fox, Brooks, Kirk.

Tries: Hepher.

Cons: Hepher.

Pens: Hepher 2.

Harlequins: Mapletoft, Moore, Burrows, Greenstock, Gollings, Burke, M. Powell, Starr, Tiatia, Olver, Morgan, Davison, White-Cooper, Sanderson, Winters.

Replacements: Douglas for Morgan (73).

Not Used: Fuga, Tamarua, Diprose, Bemand, Bell, O'Neill.

Sin Bin: Tiatia (3), Davison (5).

Tries: Gollings.

Cons: Burke.

Pens: Burke 2.

Att: 8,422

Ref: Dave Pearson (RFU).