Bohemians 0 Derry City 0:The future looks brighter for Derry City and, as the club's supporters will testify, it's not before time. Manager John Roberston has already stirred the dormant qualities of his players despite having joined just three weeks ago.

"Two points dropped," Robertson reflected on the 0-0 draw at Bohemians on Saturday. "Still, with performances like this we can become challengers again. We just need to get more clinical."

Derry dominated and carved out enough chances to secure full points and can take great confidence as they embark on their gruelling Champions League trip to Armenia this morning ahead of Wednesday's game.

Kevin McHugh was unlucky not to score as he rattled the crossbar and then forced a tremendous reaction save from Brian Murphy. Both those chances came inside the opening 10 minutes and illustrated the difficulties Bohemians would face.

The hosts offered little going forward, their midfield swapped all too often by a Derry quartet bossing throughout. Ruaidhri Higgins and Ciarán Martyn were particularly influential.

When Bohemians did assume possession they often took wrong options and, perhaps through frustration, long balls forward thereafter rarely served their purpose.

Although substitute John Paul Kelly and winger Fergal Harkin were willing to attack they lacked support upfield as strikers Glen Crowe and Darren Mansaram were ineffective.

Bohemians were more structured after the break and they restricted Derry's advances late on but failed to get far enough forward themselves.

"That team should be pushing for the title, not languishing mid-table," added Robertson of his side. "We can still sneak up on the coat-tails if we turn our pressure into goals and, while we may not win the title this season, we'll have a big say in who does."

Meanwhile, Longford Town brought to an end a run of four straight defeats with a morale-boosting 1-0 win against a very poor UCD side at Flancare Park on Saturday. This was Longford's first win in 12 games and only their second of the season.

They had a host of unconverted chances throughout the game while UCD's best came with five minutes remaining when Derek Doyle's shot over.

Longford were not to be denied, however, and Gary Deegan fired home an injury-time winner from Robert Martin's cross to seal a deserved win.