Everton played out a 1-1 draw with Bury at Gigg Lane in their second game of pre-season.
A late first-half goal from Neil Danns put the Shakers ahead before the Blues responded through Oumar Niasse.
The hosts opened the scoring just before the half-time break.
Morgan Schneiderlin fouled Nicky Adams just outside the Everton area, leading to a free-kick in training ground routine range rather than shooting range.
The initial ball was cleared by the Everton defence but a return ball sent back into the area found Danns who had broken free of the backline.
He bore down on Maarten Stekelenburg before rolling the ball home, low into the far corner.
However, Marco Silva’s side drew level just after the hour mark.
Niasse, who had a hat-trick of efforts hit the post just prior to his goal, chased a high looping ball his trademark tenacity and found himself in on goal.
His first effort was stopped by the chest of goalkeeper Joe Murphy but the rebound fell back to the striker who composed himself before firing home into the roof of the net.
The Blues went in search of a winner but Niasse and substitute Cuco Martina both saw efforts nail the woodwork.
Blues fade in first-half
The Blues dominated the first 25 minutes of the first period, looking like the sharp and fit team that Mason Holgate had alluded to earlier in the week.
Leighton Baines went close first after working his way past two defenders with a vintage attacking run. His eventual shot was cleared over the bar.
Cenk Tosun should have gone one better than Baines a few minutes later. Kevin Mirallas carved out space for a cross on the left. The Turkish forward, however, swiped at the effort and bent it around the post.
The hosts began to mount their response after the half-hour mark.
A well-worked deep cross led to a header from Gold Omotayo that forced Stekelenburg into a save. As the ‘keeper fell backwards, the rebound was cleared by the Blues defence.
Second-half response
After making nine half-time changes, SIlva’s side looked to start the second-half in a similar way to the first.
After replacing Tosun, Niasse went one better than his Turkish teammate and found an effort on target. However, as he would go on to be again, he was denied by the post after a wonderful cross from Sandro inside the early moments of the second-half.
The Senegalese forward again hit the post a few moments later after he worked himself into a one-on-one situation with Murphy but instead of going across goal, Niasse tried to go to the ‘keepers near-post but only found the post - not the net.
In search of a winner following Niasse’s eventual goal, substitute Martina had a header hit the post himself.
Jonjoe Kenny, dug out a deep cross that evaded the waiting Niasse but found the unmarked Martina waiting at the far post. However, similar to Austria, Martina could only hit the woodwork when it would have been easier to score.
With only seconds left in the game, Niasse saw a volley from just inside the 18-yard-box stopped by Bury substitute goalkeeper Mathew Hudson as the young ‘keeper was forced to make a low, sprawling save with his feet.
Pre-season progress
The clear step-up in quality of opposition meant that Everton were never going to have a game similar to that 22-0 win from last Saturday.
However, Silva’s side showed clear signs of progression, especially in the first-half.
There was a number of sweeping moves in the first period that would have never been seen last campaign.
Leighton Baines and Seamus Coleman operated in forward areas, as is their speciality, whilst their supporting wingers - Mirallas and Sandro - constantly swapped flanks in a bid to speed up play.
Fresh from his kick about on Bold Street, Tom Davies looked like a player with renewed confidence and sense of energy, as he made a number of dynamic runs both in attack and defence that haven’t been seen from him since he made his first-team breakthrough.
For Silva and his side, the focus will turn to the Algarve Football Cup in Portugal on Saturday as they get to face an even bigger step up in opposition - FC Porto and Lille.