Blyth Spartans staged a dramatic second-half comeback on the opening day of their Blue Square North campaign as they came from two behind against newly relegated Histon to take a deserved point in Cambridgeshire.
The visitors trailed to strikes from Dan Holman and Matt Breeze but responded admirably with Dave Coulson and Graeme Armstrong (pictured right) both finding the net on their debut for Blyth to set up an enthralling finale.
And Spartans almost produced a classic smash and grab at the Glass World Stadium when Coulson connected with a header in the final minute which glided just inches wide of the target.
The hosts began in lively fashion and would have been ahead on 12 minutes if Daniel Sparkes had managed to guide his header under the crossbar following a cross from Breeze.
The trickery of Blyth’s Chris Emms was causing the home side problems and after engineering himself some space on the right he delivered a deep cross which found Wayne Phillips who failed to hit the target from seven yards.
Emms proved instrumental in his side’s next attack when he brought down a cross field pass from Neal Hooks and supplied Armstrong with the Blyth captain seeing his shot fly past the upright.
In the away dugout, manager Steve Cuggy and his assistant Gavin Fell were beginning to see their side dominate proceedings as Shaun Vipond came close with a powerful effort which Jorg Stadelmann palmed away at his near post.
An uncharacteristic mistake from Dan Groves led to Histon’s opening goal on 39 minutes when the full back gifted the ball to Sparkes on the edge of the area who provided Holman with the chance to fire past Max Johnson from 16 yards.
Despite the setback the away side continued to set the tempo after half-time as Stadelmann once again denied Vipond from close range.
The home ‘keeper was called in to action moments later when he tipped an effort from Phillips round the post with Blyth increasing the pressure on their opponents as they went in search of an equaliser.
Like the 80-strong Spartans following behind the goal Armstrong held his head in his hands after heading wide from eight yards when he appeared odds-on to restore parity for his side on 55 minutes.
Just three minutes later, the visitors were left ruing missed opportunities when Breeze doubled Histon’s advantage against the run of play, with an emphatic finish from 20 yards.
On 62 minutes Blyth halved the deficit when a Hooks corner to the back post was powered home by the head of Coulson.
There was little respite for the Histon defence thereafter as Steve Cuggy’s side produced wave after wave of attack.
Resolute defending from the hosts meant that Blyth would have to wait until ten minutes from time to finally draw level.
Blyth’s midweek signing from Ashington, Glen Taylor had made a real impact after coming off the bench on 54 minutes and it was his lay off which found Armstrong who drilled home from ten yards to spark delirium in the away section.
However, the game was far from over as both sides went close to snatching victory before the end.
Firstly, it was Histon who threatened to take all three points when Zak Mills unleashed a stunning drive from 35 yards with Johnson flinging himself across the goal line to produce a magnificent save.
An historic comeback was almost complete on 89 minutes when Coulson met a Hooks free kick with his head but couldn’t find the bottom corner.
Cuggy and his side saluted the travelling supporters on the final whistle after a positive start to the new season.
Blyth Spartans are back in action on Tuesday night when they welcome Halifax Town to Croft Park before hosting Bishop’s Stortford in another Blue Square North encounter on Saturday.
Histon: Stadelmann, Mills, Hawkins, Salt, Moore, Fitzsimmons, Breeze (Roberts), Stevenson, Holman, Riza, Sparkes (Taffe)
MOM: Matt Breeze
Blyth Spartans: Johnson, Groves, Cave, Slaughter (Taylor), Coulson, Buchanan, Vipond, Hooks, Armstrong, Emms (Purvis), Phillips (Atkin)
MOM: Wayne Buchanan (pictured above)
Attendance: 460
Referee: Mr Ross.