GRIMSBY TOWN began their Christmas programme by taking a point from Stockport County at Edgeley Park.

On a wet afternoon in Cheshire, the Mariners adapted to the conditions well and took a first half lead through Martin Butler's first goal for the club.

Town were then forced to defend for most of the remainder of the game and they did so admirably, repelling wave after wave of home attacks.

But they were finding opportunities to double their advantage to be few and far between and after the hosts found their equaliser with eight minutes to go, Grimsby were forced to hang on for a share of the spoils.

Michael Rose scored the Stockport goal from a free kick after a two-footed challenge by Sam Hird.

Jim Gannon's side pushed for a winner but the Mariners held firm, extending their unbeaten league run to three games, staying in 20^th place in the table but moving a further point clear of the relegation zone.

Two changes were made to the Town team from last week's win over Mansfield.

There was a return at centre back for Nick Fenton after he missed the single-goal success over the bottom-placed side with a back injury.

He replaced Rob Atkinson at the heart of a back five, while Danny North failed to recover from an illness in time to keep his place in attack.That meant a return to the starting line-up for Butler alongside Gary Jones, who had scored the winner in Grimsby's previous two games.

Phil Barnes started in goal, with Ryan Bennett, Fenton, Hird, Tom Newey and Nick Hegarty in defence.

Alan Buckley again chose to start with the 5-3-2 formation that has brought three victories out of four, so Danny Boshell, Paul Bolland and Ciaran Toner made up the central midfield trio, with Jones and Butler paired up front for the first time in the league.

The Town subs were Gary Montgomery, James Hunt, Atkinson, Peter Till and Isaiah Rankin.

Stockport included nine-goal striker Adam Proudlock alongside Liam Dickinson, who has hit the net eight times this season.

But Matty McNeil, who scored County's goal in the 1-1 draw between the sides at Blundell Park in September, didn't figure.

Town were looking to win at Edgeley Park for the first time since 1990, when they registered a 4-2 Fourth division success.

On a slippery pitch that had been forced to undergo a 12.15pm pitch inspection, Grimsby had the first opening of the game when Bolland raced clear on three minutes.

He looked to get on the end of a long ball but had to rush his shot and saw it go harmlessly through to home keeper Conrad Logan.

Then three minutes later, a shot by Toner from 30 yards ricocheted into the path of Butler but an offside flag stopped the striker in his tracks.

Town's bright start continued when they were awarded an eleventh minute free kick and Jones almost profited when a back header from a home defender almost found him.Logan was quick off his line though, gathering the ball and nullifying the danger.

Stockport's first chance saw Proudlock cross towards Dickinson but Hird was there to clear for a corner.

Then a free kick was headed down by Michael Raynes on the edge of the box but again, Town were able to clear.

The home side were beginning to make their mark on the game after what had been a quiet opening 15 minutes from their perspective.

But the Mariners were holding their own and with Jones and Butler holding up play well, the Town management team and the small band of travelling supporters would have been reasonably happy with the start their team had made.

Hegarty got forward and crossed towards Hird on 21 minutes but the ball was headed away by Adam Griffin.

There was to be better luck for Town the next time Hegarty got forward though, as he was instrumental in creating the opening goal after 25 minutes.

Boshell released him down the left and he drove a cross over to BUTLER, who met it with his boot, guiding the ball under Logan and into the net.

Town had deserved their lead as they had created the better opportunities and seemed to have adapted to the difficult conditions better than their opponents.

Stockport immediately set about trying to find an equaliser and Bennett had to clear for a throw in when Adam Nowland broke free three minutes later.

And soon afterwards, Proudlock beat Newey and moved into the box but Fenton came across to block his path to goal and clear for a corner.

But still it was Town who were dominating the game, keeping possession well and defending superbly when it was required.

Another Hegarty cross found Butler on 37 minutes but the frontman's diving header cannoned back off the post.Then Hird had the ball in the net but the effort was ruled out for offside.

At the other end, a slip by Boshell let Nowland in but his shot was wayward, sailing well wide without troubling Barnes, who was yet to see any serious action.

Then an attempted clearance by Boshell only found Proudlock and his mis-hit shot dropped for Dickinson.He turned and shot but it was blocked and went for a corner.

Barnes had to stretch to claim a cross from David Poole as the game moved into one minute of stoppage time.

Then a Newey free kick fell to Fenton inside the box but he couldn't direct it towards goal.

It proved to be the last event of a very satisfactory first half for the Mariners.They had looked solid at the back and used the experience of Jones and Butler to hold play up for the midfielders.

Butler's goal had given Town a platform to build on and consistently good defending at the other end ensured Barnes left the field at the interval with a clean shirt as well as a clean sheet.

Stockport made a change before the restart as their ten-goal top scorer Anthony Elding was brought off the bench to replace Keith Briggs.Elding made up a front three with Proudlock and Dickinson as County boss Jim Gannon looked to go for goals to turn the game in their favour.

The home side began the half by patiently building up attacks without troubling the Town defence.

Grimsby's first attacking move saw Butler win a corner and from it, Fenton headed off target as the ball just evaded Jones.

Alan Buckley then moved to make a tactical substitution, bringing James Hunt on for Jones and reverting to one striker.Hunt, as the extra midfielder, would help to combat Stockport's three-pronged attack.

The hosts won a corner on 55 minutes after good work by Newey.Barnes punched Griffin's kick clear before the return ball into the box was blocked by Toner.

Town were allowing Stockport to have long periods of possession with the aim of breaking quickly when their hosts' passing broke down.

Jim Gannon's second change was to introduce Anthony Pilkington in place of Griffin.His first job was to take a corner, which was cleared by Bolland for another corner.

This time, a terrific cross by Michael Rose found centre back Michael Raynes but his attempt went out for a goal kick.

Raynes had another good chance on 64 minutes but a challenge from Fenton stopped him as he looked poised to shoot.

Then with 25 minutes left, Town sent Isaiah Rankin on for Toner as they looked for more attacking options in the hope of grabbing a second goal.

Stockport were still pushing for a leveller though and they won another corner on the left.It was headed clear by Hird and then Hunt completed the clearance to Rankin.He held the ball up well but was fouled on the halfway line.

Town won a free kick 35 yards from goal for a handball a minute later but Newey's kick was cleared and Stockport launched another attack.

The Mariners had a let-off when Newey appeared to foul Elding as he looked set to cross.

Grimsby counter-attacked through Hird and put together a move that ended in a Mariners corner.Boshell's delivery was towards Fenton but it was headed away for a throw-in.

Butler became the first player of the afternoon to be cautioned after he got in a tangle with Michael Rose on 75 minutes.

Then, four minutes later, a two-footed lunge by Hird five yards from the penalty area led to a full-scale brawl as what had previously been a relatively clean game suddenly exploded.

To the dismay of the home supporters, the Doncaster loanee was only shown a yellow card by referee Mr Attwell.Fenton was also booked, ruling him out of the game at home to Lincoln next Saturday, while Stockport's Pilkington was shown yellow as well.

When things settled down, it got worse from the free kick as all Town's previous good defending was outdone.ROSE stepped up and curled it over the wall and past Barnes to level the scores with 82 minutes on the clock.

It was a fantastic free kick and galvanised the home side, who suddenly looked the most likely to win the game.

Bennett committed a foul in a similar position two minutes later and this time it was Nowland who brought a good save out of Barnes from the resulting free kick.The Mariners youngster was also booked for the challenge on Dickinson.

Four minutes of added time were signalled as the home fans, now sensing victory may be in the offing, roared their side on.

But Town won a corner through Rankin, although they couldn't create a chance from it as Boshell's delivery went straight to keeper Nolan.

Dickinson then headed over at the other end as Fenton did just enough to put him off.

It turned out to be the final chance in an action-packed last ten minutes that had began with Town in the lead and ended with them hanging on for a draw.

As the final whistle blew, the Mariners would have been disappointed not to have collected their third consecutive victory but in the long run, this may be seen as a very useful point at a ground where they have been hard to come by in recent years.

It can also be seen as a good start to the busy Christmas and New Year programme and gives Alan Buckley's side something to build on with two important home games coming up over the next week.