Bradley Wright-Phillips came off the subs' bench to score a nine-minute double and rescue a point for Southampton in a 2-2 draw at Barnsley.The Tykes were 2-0 up at half-time and in total control after stunning strikes from midfielder Sam Togwell and winger Jamal Campbell-Ryce.

But Wright-Phillips replaced the ineffective Stern John on the hour mark and slipped a neat shot past Barnsley goalkeeper Heinz Muller with his first touch.

In the 70th minute, the former Manchester City striker applied another lethal finish to haul Saints level and cap an impressive fightback from George Burley's men.

Barnsley, despite their second-half surrender, will go into 2008 with their play-off ambitions firmly intact.

Simon Davey's cosmopolitan outfit are commanding respect and their potential was illustrated during an opening half played out amid driving rain and a swirling wind.

With just 21 seconds on the clock, Campbell-Ryce swung in a high cross from the right flank.

Saints could only clear the ball as far as Togwell, who fired a sweetly-struck half-volley into the top corner from 20 yards for his first goal of the season.

It should have been 2-0 soon after when Campbell-Ryce delivered another teasing cross from the right which Kayode Odejayi narrowly failed to connect from six yards.

Southampton, despite the adverse conditions, soon gained a foothold on the game and their customary passing game threatened to deliver an equalising goal.

One such sequence in the 18th minute culminated in Adam Hammill curling a shot agonisingly wide from the edge of the 18-yard box.

But 11 minutes before the break Barnsley claimed a second goal.

Istvan Ferenczi cleverly set Campbell-Ryce racing clear down the right flank and he produced a stunning diagonal finish which flew into the top corner.

Odejayi then beat the offside trap a minute later but fired hopelessly wide to spare Southampton further embarrassment.

Burley made a much-needed change at the break, replacing centre-back Darren Powell with Phil Ifill.

The switch gave Saints renewed impetus in attack but it was the introduction of Wright-Phillips for John which changed the game.

Within seconds of his arrival he latched on to a neat pass from Grzegorz Rasiak and clipped a crisp shot beyond Muller.

And the same combination produced Southampton's equaliser nine minutes later when Rasiak headed down and Wright-Phillips turned on a sixpence to rifle a low shot into the net from eight yards for his seventh goal of the season.

Wright-Phillips and Rasiak continued to dovetail effectively as the game wore on but a series of half-chances failed to bear fruit as Barnsley refused to buckle again.

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