No ground gained but more importantly for Cove Rangers just now, no ground conceded in the League One title race.
The top-of-the-table clash at the Balmoral Stadium was every bit as tense and absorbing as you would expect, for two sides on strong runs of form.
Cove held the higher ground with the seven-point advantage at the top of the division and with the 1-1 draw, continue to hold Airdrieonians and the chasing pack at arms’ length.
Harry Milne’s first goal of the season helped Cove capitalise on a blistering start, with the left wing-back driving inside and exchanging passes with Rory McAllister before clipping round the goalkeeper.
Chances were created at both ends, with the Diamonds perhaps sensing a defeat in the north-east would be all-but curtains for their automatic promotion hopes.
Their equaliser came in the second half and in impressive fashion, with Rhys McCabe splitting the Cove defence and Callum Smith supplying the well-taken finish.
“I thought we had a lot of chances to really bury the game,” said manager Paul Hartley. “In the last half an hour, we lost a wee bit of control in how we played.
“Looking at it, a draw was probably a fair result. We had good opportunities in the first half, even in the second half we were good without controlling the game.”
Hartley had praise for Milne’s performance, with the Cove favourite continuing to add to his burgeoning reputation.
The 25-year-old was a stand-out performer in the Scottish Cup game with Hibernian and was impressive at both ends of the park on Saturday.
“I thought he was excellent,” added Hartley. “He scored a really good goal – it’s a lot of stuff we work on in training. It’s a really composed finish.
“Going forward he was a real attacking threat forward and defensively he did a good job.
“We had a lot of good performances. We just lost that control of the second half, the last 30 minutes. Airdrie are a good team and we knew that.”
Airdrieonians hung in there after struggling early, with Brody Paterson turning against his own crossbar before clearing Fraser Fyvie’s shot off the line.
Rhys McCabe clipped the frame of the goal and Scott Agnew fired over before the interval as Ian Murray’s side sought a response.
The start of the second half saw Mitch Megginson denied by Max Currie and McAllister rattle the crossbar, before McCabe’s inch-perfect ball was collected by Smith and calmly slotted past Stuart McKenzie.
Cove remain undefeated against the Diamonds this season, having beaten them home and away already.
With the abundance of draws across League One at the weekend they still hold on to the seven-point advantage they had heading into the weekend.
“At this end of the season, there’s never going to be an easy game,” said Hartley. “You’ve got to fight and grind it out, try find a way of winning.
“It’s such a tough league. You look at the results on Saturday – you’ve got to be on it to get the three points.
“We’re still in a nice position but we never look too far ahead because we know what can happen in football. Things can turn very quickly.”