Shelbourne and Derry City didn't provide a thrilling spectacle in Tolka Park this afternoon yet both managers sounded overjoyed with their team's performances, albeit for different reasons.
The game finished goalless with barely a clear-cut chance to include on the highlight reel, a result which nonetheless edged the hosts' lead at the top out to eight points after Sligo Rovers' loss in Inchicore.
Derry City boss Ruaidhrí Higgins was pleased with his side's response to their 1-0 home loss to Galway United last Friday night, after which the manager said it was the most disappointment he'd felt in his entire reign after a game at the Brandywell.
Damien Duff, meanwhile, revealed that a vast swathe of his squad have been battling illness for the past day, spending much of it "on the toilet", as he told LOI TV afterwards.
Though opportunities were thin on the ground, Derry hogged the bulk of the possession and Higgins felt his side shaded it.
"Friday night was probably the most disappointed I've been as manager," the Derry manager told RTÉ Sport's John Kenny afterwards.
"Obviously the defeat away to Pat's last year but as home defeats go, Friday was the most gut-wrenching. There was a lack of anything about our performance.
"All we asked for here this evening was total commitment regardless of the result. I think we got that.
"Listen, it wasn't a game of many chances. But we think we controlled good spells of it and possibly shaded it.
"It's a much better performance in terms of commitment levels and what we expect from a Derry City player."
The draw essentially leaves Derry in a three-way tie for second spot with Sligo and Shamrock Rovers, the latter having notched their third win in a row this afternoon at Waterford.
Derry's next two games are highly winnable, against the league's bottom two sides, Dundalk and Drogheda United, before the champions visit the Brandywell.
"You never want to draw a game but Shels are an unbelievable run of winning games. In the first half, we controlled the lion's share of possession. Second half, with a bit more care we probably could have got one.
"Hopefully, the commitment that the players gave is the done thing now. We can never repeat a performance like Friday night ever again.
"We didn't beat the door down, there wasn't a load of chances. But I think the players gave everything that they had. There's a bit of light at the end of the tunnel. There'll be a few bodies back, fingers crossed, hopefully."
As for the league leaders, they were largely on the back-foot for most of a turgid encounter but battled their way to a fourth clean sheet in eight games.
However, Duff was borderline ecstatic after the match, stressing the extent of the sickness which ran through the squad.
"People might think I'm getting carried away but it's probably our best point in two years, considering how sick they were. Absolute heroes, every single one of them.
"As a spectacle, of course, not great. But considering everything we've been through in the last 24-36 hours, it's absolutely an amazing, amazing point."
The Shels manager wasn't too concerned with sacrificing the lion's share of possession over the course of the match.
"I don't think the pitch helped. I thought the pitch was absolutely awful," Duff told RTÉ Sport.
"Yes, they had a lot of possession. But the possession was in their defensive third. I have to say, for as class as their players are - especially their attacking players - it was probably as secure as I've felt in a game.
"And you could argue the team with the moments and the half-chances that maybe could have nicked it, was us. Granted, on the counter-attack."
"It wasn't the prettiest of games for the neutral. Or the home fans or the away fans."
The Shels manager had words with the referee Eoghan O'Shea after the game, though remained coy-ish about the exchange.
"I spoke to the referee at the end, Eoghan. He knows how I feel about his performance and we move on from that.
"I've spoken to him privately. If I speak publicly, I get in trouble.
"I've spoken to him, nice and calmly. He knows how I feel and we move on from that."
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