LOOKUP A VALUE IN A ROW and COUNT Number of BLANKS Below it till NEXT Value

Try this BUT assumes ascending numbers in A

=MATCH(SMALL($A$1:$A$97,RANK($E$1,$A$1:$A$97,1)+1),A$1:A$97,0)-MATCH($E$1,$A$1:$A$97,0)-1

Works!! but returns the error if there are variation in B and C Columns are sometimes there may be blank cells in B and C Coloums

thanks a lot john, i misinterpreted it, your formula works. my problem is resolved. thank you again :-). just in case would be great if you can resolve ascending limitation.