Managerless Athlone Town and ten-man Cobh Ramblers played out a scoreless draw at Lissywoolen.
Cobh dominated the early stages but could not get the ball past home goalkeeper Danny O'Leary. The Town keeper pushed away goal-bound shots from Graham Cummins and John Kearney as Ramblers threatened to overwhelm the home side.
In spite of Cobh's dominance, Athlone's Noel McGee should have broken the deadlock but the young striker failed to finish from six yards as John Kearney cleared his shot behind for a corner-kick.
McGee had a further good chance before the break with Ronan Frawley then seeing his header from a corner-kick saved by the goalkeeper.
Athlone resumed for the second half in an attacking mood and looked to be handed the advantage when the visitors were reduced to ten men.
Young Cobh Keeper Steven Deasy was sent-off early in the second half for fouling McGee just outside the penalty area as he raced onto a long clearance from defence by Ian Rossiter.
With no recognised goalkeeper on the bench striker Graham Cummins went between the posts as a stand-in keeper.
In spite of their numerical superiority Athlone were unable to find a way past Cummins with Ramblers having chances to claim all three points late on as substitutes Kieran O'Reilly and Bryan McCarthy narrowly failed to find the target.
Athlone's caretaker managers Dermot Lennon and Gordon Brett will be happy to start their reign with a draw with Cobh also pleased to extend their unbeaten league run to 16 games.
ATHLONE TOWN: O'Leary, Rossiter, Carberry, Frawley, McCarthy, Fortune, O'Dowd, Byrne, Lavine, McTiernan, McGee (Harty 84 minutes).
COBH RAMBLERS: Deasy, Carey, Meade, Murray, Guthrie, Barrett, O'Neill (Mulconroy 81 minutes), Kearney, Cummins, O'Shea (McCarthy 77 minutes), Cambridge (O’Reilly 73 minutes)
REFEREE: Tom Connolly.
