Grimsby Town battled their way to a point as they held high-flying Bury to a goalless draw at Blundell Park.
The Mariners worked hard to frustrate their opponents for the first hour of the contest, before showing more of an attacking threat in the last third of the game.
They were then forced to do more defending as the clock ticked down but were able to hold on to claim a share of the spoils.
Two changes were made to the Town side after last week’s wind-affected draw with Northampton, with Reece Hall-Johnson and Harry Clifton coming in for Danny Collins and Elliot Embleton.
James McKeown started in goal, with Luke Hendrie and Sebastian Ring operating as wing-backs and Harry Davis, Ludvig Ohman and Hall-Johnson forming a centre-back trio.
Clifton, Jake Hessenthaler and Martyn Woolford were the central midfielders, with Wes Thomas and Jordan Cook lining up in attack.
Collins was named on the bench, where he was joined by Kristian Dennis, Joe Grayson, Charles Vernam, Ahkeem Rose, Mattie Pollock and Sam Russell.
Bury boasted an unbeaten record stretching all the way back to Boxing Day, which saw them occupy second place in the League Two table and remain on course for automatic promotion.
Manager Ryan Lowe would look to the likes of strikers Caolan Lavery and Nicky Maynard to keep that unbeaten run going and return to Lancashire with a positive result.
Cook and Clifton linked up on the right on seven minutes but the midfielder’s cross was caught by visiting keeper Joe Murphy.
The first shot of the game came soon afterwards after Clifton found Woolford and he let fly from long range but again, Murphy made a comfortable catch.
At the other end, a low cross from Nicky Adams was cleared for a corner by Ohman and the ball from the flag was headed clear by Davis.
A shot by Jay O’Shea was pushed out for a corner by McKeown on 18 minutes, with Ohman dealing with the danger from the flag before Clifton brought the ball clear.
Hendrie tried a shot from long range three minutes later but it was straight at Murphy, before good hold-up play by Maynard for Bury led to a shot from Eoghan O’Connell, which McKeown got down to stop.
Jordan Rossiter fired wide from 20 yards as Bury started to get on top, although the Mariners had done well in the opening half-hour to limit their visitors to few genuine opportunities in front of goal.
A foul by Ohman on Lavery gave the away side a free kick in a dangerrous position and after it was taken quickly, Adams got into the box and sent a low cross over but it was cleared at the near post.
Another free kick came after a tussle between Hall-Johnson and Maynard on the Bury right but Adams’ delivery was too high for everybody and went out for a Town throw-in.
Two added minutes were played at the end of the half and the Mariners almost had an opportunity when Clifton set off on a run down the left but when he looked to find Woolford in the middle, the pass was overhit.
That turned out to be the last action of note before the break, with the hosts probably the happier of the two sides as they had done well to frustrate their opposition.
No changes were made before the restart and Bury made a purposeful start to the second half, leading to a shot from O’Connell which was stopped by McKeown.
A penalty appeal from the visitors followed a coming together between Hendrie and Callum McFadzean inside the Town box but the referee instead pointed for a corner, which was eventually cleared after Adams’ ball had been headed baack across goal.
Hall-Johnson sent a cross-shot out of play at the other end, before a Bury corner was headed clear by Clifton as far as O’Shea, who fired over the bar for a goal kick.
A foul by Ring on Lavery gave Bury a free kick on the right on 58 minutes but they were unable to create a chance in front of goal from it, with O’Connell eventually penalised for handball.
Vernam replaced Cook as Town made the first substitution of the game on the hour and a home corner soon afterwards was cleared at the near post.
A Town penalty appeal came when Ring went down under a challenge but the referee allowed play to continue.
Byron Moore replaced Adams for the visitors on 64 minutees, before Hendrie became the first to be shown a yellow card as he stopped a dangerous-looking attack with Ohman out of position. O’Shea’s resulting free kick led to the ball falling for Maynard but his shot was blocked.
Hendrie committed another foul on 67 minutes, this time on McFadzean on the Bury left. O’Shea’s ball to the far post was diverted out for a goal kick by O’Connell.
Davis was booked for a trip on McFadzean, before Hendrie had to chest the ball bein for a corner after a cross from the right. O’Shea’s delivery to the near post eventually dropped for Maynard and his powerful strike was brilliantly saved by McKeown.
Rose replaced Thomas in the Grimsby attack with 15 minutes left to play, while Gold Omotayo came on for Lavery for Bury.
An away corner was cleared by Clifton for a throw-in, before a Town break through Rose on the left resulted in Hessenthaler firing over the bar from 20 yards.
Town were starting to see more of the ball in attacking areas as the clock ticked down and Vernam sent a curling shot just wide of the far post from 25 yards on 81 minutes.
Defender Scott Wharton was booked for a foul on Clifton, before Ryan Cooney came on for McFadzean with five minutes to go.
Omotayo headed over the bar as Bury kept looking for a winner, while a break by Rose down the left came to nothing as his ball into the box was gathered by Murphy.
Maynard fired harmlessly over the bar from long range, before Collins came on for Hall-Johnson just before the game moved into four minutes of added time.
Bury were the team on the attack as the Mariners were forced to hang on.
A corner in the final minute gave the away side one last chance to snatch all three points but O’Connell’s header went wide and the game ended with the scores level.
Town are next in action on Saturday, when they travel to Oldham Athletic.
Town
1 James McKeown (C)
24 Harry Davis
5 Ludvig Öhman
2 Reece Hall-Johnson
27 Luke Hendrie
3 Sebastian Ring
15 Harry Clifton
16 Martyn Woolford
7 Jake Hessenthaler
39 Wes Thomas
11 Jordan Cook
Subs
23 Sam Russell
6 Danny Collins
14 Joe Grayson
31 Matthew Pollock
8 Kristian Dennis
21 Ahkeem Rose
18 Charles Vernam
Bury
1 Joe Murphy
19 Scott Wharton
5 Adam Thompson
6 Eoghan O’Connell
7 Nicky Adams (C)
21 Callum McFadzean
26 Jay O’Shea
10 Danny Mayor
11 Jordan Rossiter
36 Nicky Maynard
32 Caolan Lavery
Subs
43 Scott Maloney
4 Will Aimson
16 Ryan Cooney
29 Callum Hulme
27 Gold Omotayo
15 Byron Moore
18 Dominic Telford
Referee: Anthony Backhouse
Attendance: 4,375 (691)
Next Up: Oldham Athletic (A)
