Ten man Shelbourne maintained their top of the table status, holding champions Shamrock Rovers to yet another scoreless draw at Tolka Park.
Shelbourne sat 10 points ahead of Rovers this time a month ago and while the gap is down to three points now, the champions were unable to make up further ground against the leaders.
The Reds looked vulnerable to a late defeat when substitute Shane Farrell received a second yellow card with 15 minutes to go.
However, Damien Duff's men didn’t panic, even as the atmosphere cranked up a notch late on.
Shels may be without a win in their past five, but they still look disciplined, well organised and fitter than most other teams.
However, those attributes can only take you so far. Ultimately, it’s squads that win leagues. And it must be remembered this is still not Stephen Bradley's strongest squad.
Through injury, the champions are currently without Aaron McEneff, Graham Burke, Jack Byrne, Gary O’Neill and Sean Hoare – five players that could slot into nearly every other starting 11 in the country.
Four of the past five Tolka Park meetings between these sides have now ended in a draw, with three scoreless. Another cagey affair was the prediction of many around the ground.
Two strong defences could have killed this game as a spectacle, however, it was their efforts that brought this game to life.
Meeting a short corner routine, Roberto Lopes rattled the Shelbourne crossbar within 90 seconds. Josh Honohan plundered another shot goalward just a minute later.
Despite the Hoops’ lightning start, it was Shels who had the best of the half.
Matty Smith struck an early cross from the right before centre-back Paddy Barrett zipped a first-time effort towards the bottom corner. Leon Pohls pulled off a fantastic save to turn it around his post.
The game still wasn’t 10 minutes old when Smith scuffed another goalscoring opportunity in the box.
There was once a time when Duff’s sides were criticised for their conservatism against the big clubs. That could hardly be said tonight. His side looked thoroughly confident playing short quick passes around an urgent Rovers press.
The Reds played the better football into the second half as John O’Sullivan charged down the right to give John Martin an early shot. However, Pohls was in the right position to stop the effort.
Bradley introduced Aaron Greene and Rory Gaffney to put the Shels back four under pressure. However, the Reds' backline looked composed even after Farrell’s sending-off.
The Hoops repeated their attacks through Darragh Burns and Gaffney, but never mustered up a serious chance even after six minutes of additional time.
Shelbourne: Conor Kearns; Sean Gannon, Gavin Molloy, Paddy Barrett, Kameron Ledwidge; Tyreke Wilson (Evan Caffrey, 64), JJ Lunney John O’Sullivan; Matty Smith (Sean Boyd, 74), John Martin (Shane Farrell, 64), Will Jarvis (Dean Williams, 90).
Shamrock Rovers: Leon Pohls; Roberto Lopes, Dan Cleary, Joshua Honohan; Darragh Burns, Trevor Clarke (Sean Kavanagh, 72); Dylan Watts, Conan Noonan; Richie Towell (Aaron Greene, 63), Darragh Nugent; Johnny Kenny (Rory Gaffney, 63).
Referee: Rob Hennessy.
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