Most of the Premier Division's managers insist these days that they are in the business of getting their players to produce the sort of football which will act as an advertisement for the game here.

Occasionally, though, what we're treated to instead looks like a health warning. And this was an effective a reminder of just how bad it can be.

Another time it might have been very different. Both of these clubs are capable of playing good open football but neither appeared to have even an ounce of invention in what was a lifeless encounter played out in front of no more than a few hundred people at Santry.

For UCD even the draw was a decent enough way to round off a good week, in which they took seven points and effectively ruled out any chance of being dragged back into the relegation dogfight.

With just one defeat now in eight games they are looking very solid again but perhaps a more barren recent spell would have provided a badly-needed sense of urgency yesterday.

As for Rovers, well they were scarcely going to be buzzing after the way Shelbourne brought them back down to earth on Friday night. Losing Tony O'Dowd, Terry Palmer and Sean Francis to injury didn't help Damien Richardson's cause but in the circumstances the biggest problem was always going to be one of shattered morale rather than battered limbs.

The terrible state of the pitch also contributed to what Richardson described afterwards as "an awful game played out in an atmosphere that was like Glasnevin cemetery".

Rovers, their manager felt, still should have won the game but what he firmly believed had been a good penalty claim late on when Billy Woods and Clive Delaney crossed paths in the area didn't impress referee Eddie Barr much.

That aside, though, the home side created little of note and Barry Ryan's hardest work was behind him by the second minute when he bungled an attempt to take a Marc Kenny free in his arms but managed to clear the danger anyway.

By contrast the students, while coming off second best in terms of possession, came closer to actually winning the game. Eoin Bennis might have given them the lead in the first half when he headed Ciaran Martyn's cross from the right well wide and late in the game both Eamon McLoughlin and Clive Delaney with long-range efforts.

Afterwards Martin Moran too conceded that it had been a fairly grim encounter but did express some satisfaction that his team had gone another game without conceding a goal.

Such is the current form that the revised targets for the season now include a crack at finishing fourth in the league. The cups might be more rewarding, though. The upcoming trip to Dalymount in the FAI Cup will be tough but there have been some surprises there already this season.

As for the Leinster Cup, there is an upcoming first round tie against . . . Shamrock Rovers. Take my advice, stay in with a good book.

SHAMROCK ROVERS: Horgan; Britton, Brazil, Purdy, Dunne; Robinson, Colwell, Kenny, Woods; Byrne, Lawlor. Subs: Stewart for Robinson (53 mins), Cousins for Kenny (74 mins).

UCD: Ryan; McLoughlin, Delaney, Lynch, Mahon; Mooney, Kavanagh, Martyn, Martin; Bennis, Hanrahan. Subs: Fitzpatrick for Bennis (70 mins).

Referee: E Barr (Dublin).