WE had dancing girls and parachutists, wrestlers and fireworks.

What we didn't get was the ingredient which everyone desperately craved, and had every right to expect from such star-studded strike forces.

As goalless stalemates go, though, this was a contest to savour, brimming over with promise and anticipation even if it fell just short of the product desired by satellite television.

Maybe it wasn't in the same class as Channel 4's Milan-Lazio show which delighted us on Sunday, but Villa and Blackburn served up a compelling 90 minutes representing the best of British . football.

The game was billed as Saunders v Shearer, but in truth there was an abundance of quality spread right across these two multi-million pound outfits.

Blackburn. the surprise package of the Premier League, oozed class and composure throughout the first half, with Tim Sherwood and former Villa favourite Gordon Cowans controlling midfield.

But Villa, with Shaun Teale Paul McGrath doggedly holding off the threat of Shearer and Mike Newell. defiantly stood their ground to mount an onslaught in the last half hour which very nearly yielded a winner.

Saunders drove into Bobby midriff after a delightful five-man move; Dalian Atkinson was denied a certain goal by Colin Hendry’s classic sliding tackle; Ray Houghton unleashed a dipping 30-yarder which Mimms just managed to help on to the bar.

Yet such was the intrigue of a finely-balanced game that Blackburn almost broke the deadlock with the best effort of the night.

Newell's 71st minute swivel and stunning 15-yard drive looked every inch a goal, until Nigel Spink dived to his left to clutch the ball on the line.

Villa manager Ron Atkinson described Spink’s spectacular response as the best save he had seen in a long time and few of the 30,000 crowd will argue with that assessment.

A Blackburn goal at that stage would have been an injustice, for Villa had more than redressed the balance of the visitors' early superiority.

That was due as much as anything to an enforced interval substitution after Stephen Froggatt had suffered a recurrence of his ankle problem.

Steve Staunton's switch to midfield gave Villa more thrust going forward, while substitute Bryan Small effectively nullified Blackburn's threat down the right flank.

Ultimately, a draw was the most appropriate outcome, the result keeping Rovers hot on the heels of leaders Norwich while Atkinson's men moved into fourth place.