BLAENAVON Blues showed real character on Saturday afternoon to come back from three goals down against local rivals Mardy and earn a draw in 90 minutes of end-to-end thrills and spills.

The Blues started the game very brightly and ten minutes in Matthew Cox should have scored from a Darren Harris cross.

But the Mardy soon gained the upper hand when a long throw by Adam White was not dealt with by the Blues defence and the ball was scrambled over the line.

The Blues nearly arrived back on level terms soon after but Mikey Waite's effort was pulled to the left of the upright.

Playing with a strong wind at there backs, the Mardy played the long ball over the top to their nippy front men, and the Blues found it hard to get out of their own half.

Mardy doubled their advantage after twenty five minutes with a long range effort by Alan Davies which left Blues keeper Lee Jones rooted to the spot.

Mardy made it 3-0 soon after when an even longer range effort was fired into the top corner by Adam White.

This seemed to trigger the Blues into action and they got the ball down, played some attractive football, and opened up the Mardy defence on numerous occasions.

Five minutes before half time and the Blues pulled one back when central defender Matthew Cox latched on to a Mikey Waite miss shot and fired home.

The Blues were a far better side in the second half and some great passing football by Neil Cox and Waite opened up the space for captain White to fire home.

Five minutes later and the Blues were level after Waite was up-ended in the Box, leaving White to fire home from the penalty spot.

The Blues could have gone on to win the game but failed to take their chance in front of a resolute Mardy defence.

Although finishing the game with ten men after Lewis Welch saw red for two yellow cards, the Mardy had a golden opportunity to win the game in the dying minutes, but their front man fired wide with the goal at his mercy.

After being 3-0 down, the Blues will be happy with a draw to take them seven points above the relegation drop, but will need to improve their defending and finishing in front of goal if they are to take anything from Cwmffrwdoer Sports visit to the Co-op Field this Saturday.

The Mardy on the other hand will need to play out of their skins if they are to be in with a chance of knocking out an away result against a top-of-the-table Albion Rovers this Saturday.

Mardy's Malcolm Skinner told the Chronicle after the Blues fixture, "It was a great game with a fantastic finish. The main thing is we took a point from the match. That may not seem much after going three goals up, but the Blues really did throw everything they had at us, and it was only our tenacity in defence that kept us in it.

"Although we're still only one off the bottom in Gwent County Division One, we're not that too far adrift in terms of points of the three teams above us. We were in a similar position last season in regard to relegation, but we survived then and we can survive now. It's just a question of belief."