Goals from Stephen Crainey and Ben Burgess nearly saw Blackpool take a prized Championship scalp against last seasons' Premiership side Sheffield United.
An 86th minute header from Burgess looked to have sealed a famous three points but for James Beattie to score his second goal of the game with two minutes remaining after keeper Paul Rachubka failed to hold his strike meaning the game ended 2-2.
In what was an action packed first five minutes, both sides pressed as they looked to take the lead. The first effort on goal came inside the first two minutes when David Fox had a go from range only to see his strike fly just over the bar.
Then came a great chance for Gary Taylor-Fletcher inside the fourth minute. Wes Hoolahan created some space for himself out on the left to whip the ball in to the unmarked Taylor-Fletcher who somehow managed to hit the ball wide with Blades keeper Paddy Kenny unmoved.
It was then Paul Rachubka's turn to get in amongst the action when he pulled off a super save to keep out an off target Stephen Quinn strike that deflected back across goal off Shaun Barker.
Chris Armstrong nearly scored for his loan club when his deflection on the ball forced Paddy Kenny into backtracking and tipping the ball over the crossbar.
Then following all that came the opening goal of the game and it went to the visitors. John Stead preferred up front to Billy Sharp got down the left hand side of the field to produce a few stopovers and play a delightful ball onto the head of James Beattie to score in the bottom left hand corner (13).
The game then became a battle in the midfield with Pool pressing forward to try and find the equaliser. It may have come in the 34th minute when a flick back from Ben Burgess allowed Gary Taylor-Fletcher to hit the ball on the half volley just wide.
Ben Burgess then picked up the ball and produced a mazy run turning the Blades defence inside out before curling the ball just past the top left-hand side of the post.
Then right on half time referee Mark Halsey awarded the Seasiders a freekick following a foul by Chris Morgan on Andy Morrell. The man to step up was Stephen Crainey and he didn't let the side down as he bent the bal around the wall and into the right hand corner to equalise right on the half time whistle (45)
HALF-TIME BLACKPOOL 1 SHEFFIELD UNITED 1
The second-half started with a lack of clear cut chances although Pool looked to disturb the Blades rhythm from the offset camping the side in their own half.
There were wide appeals for a Pool penalty from the Tangerine faithful after Andy Morrell was hit by a trailing boot, following an acrobatic clearance of the ball by Chris Morgan but Mark Halsey waved away the appeals.
The clear second half chance then fell to Gary Taylor Fletcher only for the keeper to get down and save his effort following a burst into the box.
As Bryan Robson looked to counter the efforts of Blackpool he sent Danny Webber onto the field in place of the uninspiring Michael Tonge as they looked for a winner.
Chris Armstrong then danced his way in field for the Blades but just dragged his shot wide of the right.
Simon Grayson introduced Andy Welsh for his home debut with eight minutes remaining as Pool chased another home victory. Yet it was Alan Quinn who could have secured an away day victory for Bryan Robson but his rasping strike went wide.
Andy Welsh then played over one of the balls of the game to big Ben Burgess to head the ball looping into the left side of the net, as Pool looked odds on for victory (86).
Then, as supporters basked in the glory, a speculative effort from James Beattie found its way into the net after somehow slipping through the grasp of the crouching Paul Rachubka (88).
Pool will now look to get back to winning ways against Colchester at home on Saturday.
Teams:
Blackpool:
Rachubka, Barker, Jackson, Evatt, Crainey, Taylor-Fletcher (Welsh 82), Fox, Southern, Hoolahan, Burgess, Morrell (Parker 85)
Subs not used: Coid, Vernon, Gorkss
Sheffield United:
Kenny, Bromby, Naysmith, Morgan, Kilgallon, Tonge (Webber 73), Gillespie (Alan Quinn 65), Armstrong, Stephen Quinn (Carney 54), Beattie, Stead
Subs not used: Webber, Lucketti, Sharp
Attendance: 9,512 (1,852 visitors)
