Rushden and Bristol Rovers played out a draw which was probably a fair result on the balance of play.
Rushden started well and in the second minute Kevin Braniff was pulled back by Christian Edwards when in on goal and the defender received a booking.
In the fifth minute only a saving tackling by Steve Elliott denied Alex Hay and nine minutes later Hay was in the thick of the action again when he shot well over from ten yards out.
The Pirates created their first real opening in the 20th minute when Stuart Campbell burst down the left and crossed to forward Junior Agogo whose shot was well-saved by Billy Turley.
Both sides found it difficult to create clear chances and the two keepers were rarely tested in the first half although a minute before the interval Gary Mills produced a good save to keep Kevin Miller's 20-yard effort out.
In the 49th minute Edwards did well to deny Hay as the striker raced towards goal.
Rushden began to dictate the game and on the hour they almost went ahead when David Bell cut in from the right and his shot rebounded off the post. The following up Braniff was unable to get his header on target.
On 63 minutes Andrew Burgess saw his header cleared off the line by Robbie Ryan. Rovers came much more into the game in the closing stages and Turley made a fine point-blank save from substitute Jamie Forrester after the ball had been flicked on Agogo.
Agogo had an excellent chance to snatch a winner in the 76th minute after Ali Gibb's effort had come back off the crossbar but his effort flew well over the bar.
Turley came to the rescue again three minutes later when he made a fine save from Gibb. Both sides battled vainly to grab the winner but neither was able to test the keepers.