GRIMSBY Town twice came from behind to secure a hard-earned point against Barnet at Underhill.
Two goals in two minutes midway through the first half looked to have put the home side firmly in control, with Yannick Bolasie grabbing the first and veteran Paul Furlong heading the second.
But the Mariners hit back almost straight away through Ryan Bennett and they were back level before the break, when Stuart Elliott headed home from 12 yards.
Town were on the back foot again just after the hour when the Bees regained their lead through a John O'Flynn penalty.
But again, the Mariners didn't give up and they got their rewards with Adrian Forbes' first goal for the club securing a draw, to the delight of the 357 travelling supporters.
Both sides pushed for a decisive fourth goal but it was not to be and the Mariners kept up their record of never losing at Underhill and remained above their North London opponents in the league table.
Town boss Mike Newell made one alteration to the team that drew with Exeter City in their last game, with Rob Atkinson restored to the centre of defence after serving a one-match suspension against the Grecians.
Dean Sinclair had been the only doubt ahead of the match against his former club but the Charlton loanee recovered sufficiently to take his place in central midfield.
Phil Barnes began in goal, with the regular back four of Jamie Clarke, Ryan Bennett, Atkinson and Joe Widdowson in front of him.
Nathan Jarman, the two-goal hero of the weekend, kept his place on the right wing as his suspension for collecting five yellow cards does not kick in until Saturday.
Jarman was joined in midfield by Jean-Paul Kalala, Sinclair and Stuart Elliott, while the front two of Adam Proudlock and Adrian Forbes also remained unchanged.
The Grimsby substitutes were Gary Montgomery, Matt Heywood, Danny Boshell, Nick Hegarty and Peter Bore.
One of Barnet's key players was likely to be winger Albert Adomah, who impressed when the Bees collected their first ever win against the Mariners in the corresponding fixture at Blundell Park.
Adomah had scored seven goals so far over the season, while striker John O'Flynn stood one away from double figures at kick off.He partnered 40-year-old Paul Furlong in attack, with the ex-Birmingham City man looking to improve on a record of two goals in nine games since signing a loan deal at Underhill.
The hosts had the first chance of the game when a cross from Furlong found Adomah but his shot flashed across goal and out of play for a goal kick.
The same partnership was in force again a minute later, this time with Adomah crossing for Furlong to head well wide.
Then Barnes was nearly caught out when he came out of his penalty area to head a clearance but it was returned past the Mariners stopper but couldn't beat the covering Clarke, who cleared for a corner.
From that first flag-kick, the home side again threatened to take the lead, with Yannick Bolasie meeting the ball with a firm header but it was blocked and cleared for another corner by Bennett.
Grimsby had so far struggled to put any spell of possession together and home keeper Ran Kadoch had not been called into any serious action in the opening quarter of an hour.
The first real move of any note from Town came when Elliot found Proudlock inside the Barnet half.His cross was headed by Jarman but the ball was cleared as far as Kalala on the edge of the box and his snap-shot went out for a goal kick.
That proved the catalyst for a spell of Town pressure and they won their first corner on 16 minutes.Keeper Kadoch got to the ball ahead of Proudlock and punched it away for a second flag-kick.
The pressure only lasted for two minutes and when Barnet next went forward, they took an 18th minute lead.
Almost immediately after Sinclair's second corner was cleared, the hosts broke upfield and Neal Bishop's long ball from his own half found BOLASIE and he shot right-footed past Barnes from 20 yards.
And it was to get even worse for the Mariners within two minutes when the London club doubled their advantage.This time, it was Joe Devera's right-wing cross that was headed into the net by FURLONG from close range.
Town now had it all to do and were suddenly staring at what could have been a very damaging defeat.
But within four minutes, the Mariners were back in the game as they got on the scoresheet.A hanging corner from Sinclair was punched straight up into the air by Kadoch and after Proudlock did enough to get to the loose ball ahead of the Bees stopper, BENNETT was there to poke it over the line and halve the deficit.
After a quiet opening to the game, it had suddenly sprung into life with three goals inside six minutes and Grimsby would now have the aim of getting back on level terms before half-time.
Town won a free kick on the half-hour after a surging run from Widdowson down the left was halted by Bishop.From the set-piece, Elliott's shot was blocked by the defensive wall and the ball came out to Forbes, who was adjudged to have committed a foul on Bishop.
Adomah was stopped in his tracks by Atkinson after he had played a one-two with Furlong on 35 minutes and the winger was involved again soon afterwards, sending a shot high over the bar.
Town's next opportunity came after Proudlock had held the ball up on the right before laying it off to Clarke.His cross found Forbes inside the penalty area but the frontman was denied by the offside flag.
The Mariners won a corner with three minutes remaining in the half and from it, they found their equaliser.Sinclair's kick was headed clear by defender Gary Breen as far as Jarman, who returned it to Sinclair on the right.This time, the cross was met by an unmarked ELLIOTT, whose bullet header beat Kadoch to level the scores.
The first booking was given to Barnet's Matthew Lockwood a minute later for a foul on Jarman inside the Town half.
One minute of added time was played at the end of the half, with Sinclair becoming the first Mariner to go into referee Steve Cook's notebook for a foul on Adomah.
As Mr Cook blew for half-time, it was the Mariners who would have been the happier of the two sides.
Town had shown great character in coming back from two goals down to level the match and they would have been looking to go on and win it in the second half.
No substitutions were made by either side before the restart and the first chance of the second half went the way of the hosts but Barnes was relatively untroubled as Mark Hughes headed straight at him after a corner was partially cleared.
Forbes was fouled by Breen as Town looked to mount their first attack of the half.Sinclair took the kick from the right and it dropped for Atkinson to volley back towards Sinclair.He won a corner and from it, a cross by Jarman evaded everybody and ran out for a Barnet throw.
Another free kick to Town followed soon afterwards, 30 yards out and in a central position but this time, Sinclair fired wide.
Hughes shot wide after a throw-in that had come from a break by Adomah, which was stopped by a good challenge from Widdowson.
Then, as Barnet broke quickly again, O'Flynn had the chance to turn and shoot from six yards but he couldn't get enough on the ball to force it past Barnes and the keeper took a comfortable catch.
Atkinson had to deny Furlong after he was played in on the edge of he box by Bolasie before Adomah cut in from his wing and tried to unleash a shot.Town broke from it through Proudlock but he was dispossessed by Bishop.
Jarman was shown a yellow card for a late challenge on Lockwood just before the hour but the youngster was able to make amends by clearing the resulting free kick from danger.
The Mariners then received a big blow when a rash challenge by Widdowson brought Adomah down inside the box and referee Cook pointed to the spot.O'FLYNN stepped up to steer the ball home from 12 yards and restore the home side's advantage with 62 minutes on the clock.
The hosts then continued to pressure the Mariners goal, winning more corners and pinning the Town side back inside their own half.Devera couldn't control a cross and Widdowson was able to clear for a throw but Barnet were increasingly finding gaps in the Grimsby defence.
A cross from O'Flynn looked to have found Furlong inside the box but the big striker couldn't make contact with the ball, before seconds later, another cross was sent into the danger zone and this time, it was cleared for a throw-in.
O'Flynn sent a shot wide from 12 yards and Bolasie had an overhead kick blocked by Bennett as the hosts continued to threaten.
The first change of the match was made by the Mariners on 75 minutes, with Peter Bore replacing Proudlock.
And within two minutes, Grimsby were back level again.A throw-in from Atkinson was headed on by Elliott and FORBES struck an overhead kick from 12 yards that found the top of the net to make it 3-3.
Elliott tested Kadoch from 30 yards and the Barnet keeper could only palm the ball away for a corner.The kick was cleared by Devera but the ball was worked back to Bore inside the penalty area and his shot went out for a goal kick.
Clive Akurang replaced Furlong for Barnet with seven minutes to go but it was Grimsby who were now on top, with the men from Blundell Park pushing for what would surely be a decisive fourth goal.
Forbes beat an offside trap with two minutes left but he was denied by a covering challenge from Ismail Yakubu.
Then at the other end, Barnes had to be alert to come off his line and beat O'Flynn to the ball on the edge of the Town box.
Three minutes of added time were signalled by the fourth official with the game still very much in the balance.In the first of the extra minutes, Bore broke over the halfway line and ran towards the penalty area before flashing a low shot wide from 20 yards.
Danny Boshell replaced Forbes for the final few seconds but there were no further chances for either side to grab a late winner.
After recovering from two goals down and then clawing themselves back again in the second half, Town would probably have thought this was a well-earned point and it kept them above their North London rivals in the League Two table ahead of Saturday's home game against Bury.
