Bristol Rovers battled hard to earn a point against fourth placed Peterborough, though they could have taken all three points if it weren't for United keeper Joe Lewis.
Jo Kuffour opened the scoring for Rovers before a Byron Anthony goal cancelled out his teammates strike. Ten man Peterborough took a brief lead through George Boyd but Jeff Hughes scored the nights final goal to see the game finish 2-2.
Rovers made two changes to the side that beat Notts County on Saturday, Byron Anthony returning from injury to take the suspended Gary Sawyer's place at left back while Jo Kuffour replaced Gavin Williams, partnering Will Hoskins up top. The away side also made two changes Grant McCann missing out due to international commitments and dropping Ryan Bennett.
It was the ever improving Gas who took the lead after just five minutes, a Byron Anthony throw in bounced off of a defenders head and looped to Jo Kuffour who turned on a sixpence before striking the ball across the outstretched hands of Joe Lewis.
Boro's big threat was Craig Mackail-Smith. The striker, a late call up to the Scotland squad this weekend, found himself with the ball at his feet in the area but Conrad Logan proved he was up to the task, blocking his goalbound effort. They weren't to be denied, however, and they soon found their equaliser.
George Boyd picked up the ball out wide and looked to whip it into the area. He found a head that converted it into a goal but unfortunately for Rovers it was Byron Anthony who turned the ball into his own net.
One of the games major talking points came when Joe Lewis drove a pass through the heart of the Rovers defence to put Mackail-Smith through on goal, only for the striker to throw himself down when Byron Anthony came sliding in, the referee was having none of it though, waving away the visitors protests, Joe Lewis charging up to the halfway line to berate the referee and receiving a yellow card for his troubles.
With half time approaching Peterborough found themselves down to ten men after full back Mark Little received a second yellow card for a needless foul on Stuart Campbell in the Rovers half. His long trudge off the pitch was greeted by jeers from the home faithful who really began to believe their favourites could pull a result out of the bag.
But the away side obviously hadn't been reading from that script at half time and came out fired up for the second half and, despite their one man disadvantage, looked to take the game to Rovers and this paid dividends eight minutes after the restart.
A throw in routine from the Pirates went awry and the ball was quickly picked up on by Mackail-Smith, his neat pass found Boyd in the area and the Peterborough attacker was able to lash a fine shot past Logan to send the visiting supporters into raptures as he celebrated with them.
A month ago that goal would have deflated the Rovers players but under Stuart Campbell there has been a renewed passion and resilience and this was once again on display as the home side came forward.
Will Hoskins nearly put Rovers on level terms, his strike looping off a Peterborough players leg and looping over Joe Lewis' head, the one time England squad member losing the flight of the ball only to turn and watch it drop onto his crossbar and away. It wasn't long before the game was to be squared up again, though.
A long ball out of defence found Jo Kuffour out on the right and he slipped a ball through for Harry Pell to chase to the byline. The youngsters cross flew across the face of goal and found the diving head of Jeff Hughes who nodded in his 10th goal of the season and his first in eleven games.
It was the home side who began to turn the screws and Will Hoskins saw the ball nicked away from him as he was about to shoot after the Peterborough defence failed to get themselves to a long goalkick from Conrad Logan.
After a weak shot from Rovers debutant Reggie Lambe trundled wide of the upright and Will Hoskins showed great agility to volley over Jo Kuffour found himself one-on-one with Lewis. The former Arsenal trainee wormed his way into a great shooting position but his attempt to put the ball in the bottom corner could only find the visiting keepers hands in fine form, Lewis getting down sharply to his left to keep him out.
With the games frantic pace starting to slow there was one last, great opportunity for a winner and that chance fell to the leagues leading marksman, Craig Mackail-Smith. It wasn't to be for Boro's 27 goal top scorer, however, as his attempt to place the ball past Logan rolled agonisingly wide of the post, the Watford born frontman showing his frustration by laying down, hands over face for a good twenty seconds before Logan restarted play and that was to be it for a game that either side could have won.
After the game Stuart Campbell talked about how his charges were unlucky not to take all three points from the game, telling bristolrovers.co.uk:
"The lads are all disappointed that we haven't actually won the game, which I think is a measure of how far we have come in the last few weeks.
"Unfortunately we were not able to take one of the many chances we created in the second half.
"A point tonight keeps our run going, and we will be going into the Yeovil game full of confidence and looking forward to it."
Peterborough showed why they are one of the most feared teams in the division, that despite losing a man, while Rovers showed the renewed spirit in the camp and the will that they are going to need if they are to beat the drop come the end of the season.
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