Drogheda United 0 Shelbourne 0:  Shelbourne left Drogheda last night with their unbeaten league record intact but their lead at the top of the Premier Division was cut to two points after a game which offered a good deal more grind than grace at United Park.

The last time Pat Fenlon's side came here they won 5-2, with the scale of the defeat probably going some way towards influencing Paul Doolin's extensive close season transfer activity.

Judged on the basis of this performance, the Dubliner seems to have made considerable progress, for there was little enough to choose between the two sides in what was a poor game, albeit one that got considerably better as the night went on.

Shelbourne must have travelled with some confidence. The team could hardly be said to have made a slow start to the season but there has been a clear improvement in recent weeks and they arrived with 12 points from their last four league games as well as wins in their last two Setanta Cup outings.

With Richie Baker and Wes Hoolahan missing from midfield, though, a little of the spark the title holders have produced over the past month was missing and Fenlon was also forced to switch Jamie Harris back into defence due to Colin Hawkins's suspension.

Alan Moore partnered Jason Byrne up front in place of the Welshman who had scored in each of his last two outings.

The former international produced a few admirable touches through a desperately poor first period but it was Byrne who produced the only serious chance of note before the break when he got onto the end of David Crawley's cross and unleashed a shot from 10 yards that Rogers did superbly to push away at full stretch.

His performance in last season's defeat had cost him his place in the side but Rogers looked impressively solid in this, his first start of the new campaign, and Dan Connor may have trouble reclaiming his place when fit again.

There were one or two occasions when a save simply would have been out of the question if the visiting team's players had found the finish required of them but Harris fluffed perhaps Shelbourne's most clear-cut opportunity to take the lead in the second half when he missed the target badly after Crawley had again provided the cross.

By then the home support must have felt that they were in with every chance of hammering out a rare home win themselves.

Sami Ristila went desperately close to scoring with a long-range effort that clipped the top of the bar a little short of an hour in, while Declan O'Brien should at least have hit the target when given plenty of time to turn while on the ball well inside the box.

For the most part, though, the defences coped well with what was thrown at them and United will take come satisfaction of a game that showed they can live with the champions while Fenlon will hardly be overly disappointed with a solid draw away to a side with ambitions of rivalling them over the months ahead.

DROGHEDA UNITED: Rogers; Lynch, Gartland, Gray, Webb; Robinson, Whelan, Ristila, Sandvliet; O'Brien, Rooney.

SHAMROCK ROVERS: Williams; Heary, Harris, Rogers, Crawley; Ryan, Crawford, S Byrne, Cahill; J Byrne, Moore Subs: Fitzpatrick for Moore (80 mins).

Referee: K Ginnett (Bangor).