Athlone Town were left to rue several missed second-half chances as they shared the spoils against the league's basement side Kilkenny City, at Lissywollen on Sunday.
The midlands side had held title-chasing Cobh Ramblers scoreless the previous week but found themselves behind after just three minutes on this occasion.
City had started brightly and their endeavour was rewarded when Ted O'Connor struck an excellent shot into the top corner from the edge of the area.
Athlone came close to responding after 11 minutes when Brian McCarthy snuck inside the six-yard box and got his head to Colin Fortune's corner, but he couldn't direct his effort onto the target.
Played in favourable conditions on a perfect surface, this developed into an open game of football with both sides trying to pass the ball on the deck as much as possible.
Athlone drew level on 24 minutes, when Noel Mc Gee, sandwiched between City defenders Padraig Fogarty and Aaron Ryan, was bundled to the ground. The referee pointed to the spot and Ian Rossiter coolly dispatched the kick.
The home side created the more clear-cut chances during the remainder of the half, with striker Paul McTiernan coming close to finishing off a neat passing move involving Eric Lavine and Adrian Carberry, only to see his shot deflected wide for a corner.
A Ronan Frawley header, meanwhile, forced a good save from Kilkenny 'keeper Anthony Fennelly on the stroke of half time.
Fennelly (an ex-Athlone Town player) again denied his former club on 58 minutes, when he dived to parry Colin Fortune's well-struck free-kick.
Five minutes later, Town striker Lavine gathered a long ball from Rossiter on his chest and let fly with a first-time volley. It was a moment of skill that deserved a goal, but the ball went just wide.
Lavine came closer still on 73 minutes when he collected a pass from Fortune and hit a shot that was tipped onto the inside of the post by Fennelly.
Kilkenny continued to show plenty of effort but were creating little in the way of scoring chances.
Athlone's final chance to take the three points came in injury time. Lavine crossed to McTiernan who somehow failed to make contact with the ball at the back post, and Kilkenny cleared the danger.
ATHLONE TOWN: D O'Leary, I Rossiter, A Carberry, R Frawley, B McCarthy, C Fortune, M Harty (L Hardy, 90 mins), D Byrne, E Lavine, P McTiernan, N McGee (M Sherlock, 80 mins).
KILKENNY CITY: A Fennelly, P Fogarty, D Loughnane, K Fitzgerald, A Ryan, E O'Shea (J Mulligan, 69 mins), M Comerford, S Grant, M Tynan, T O'Connor, E O'Brien (N Kent, 33 mins).
REFEREE: G Kelly.
