Arbroath missed an opportunity to close the gap on League Two leaders Forfar, but manager Dick Campbell admitted his team got out of jail.
The Lichties will be happy with a point gained from a difficult venue, though Campbell felt his team were lucky not to concede a penalty.
The biggest talking point of the game came early in the second half when Arbroath defender Colin Hamilton challenged City striker Craig Gunn as he lined up a shot on the edge of the box.
It looked like a clear penalty and would have been a second yellow for Hamilton, who had already been booked, but refereeMat Northcroft waved play on to the fury of home fans.
“You can see Jim (Elgin manager Jim Weir) was very angry with the decision and I think I would have been as angry as him,” said Campbell.
The manager also felt aggrieved over the straight red shown to Ricky Little by the referee, who initially gave a foul for the challenge but did not look to further punish him.
After Elgin protests that Little had already been cautioned, Northcroft consulted his assistant and decided to produce a straight red for violent conduct.
Campbell felt the foul was worth no more than a second yellow, which would have ruled out a lengthy ban for the player.
“In my opinion we could have had a penalty as well,” Campbell added in reference to a challenge on Steven Doris in front of goal. “But I’m delighted with a point.”
Arbroath looked lively in the dreadful conditions but needed keeper Ricky Gomes to make a good save from Archie Macphee’s free-kick on 14 minutes.
Six minutes later Bobby Linn’s cross from the left for the visitors was knocked on by Bryan Hodge to Martin Scott six yards out, but he mis-hit his drive across goal and the danger was cleared.
Arbroath skipper Mark Whately had two chances in quick succession, firstly dragging a shot across the goalmouth, then meeting Linn’s return ball with a header which drifted over.
Hodge headed wide on the half-hour while in Elgin’s next attack Gomes again tipped over from a Chris Dodd shot.
Another Gomes save from Dodd kept Arbroath on terms, while the away side breathed a sigh of relief when a speculative Darryl McHardy ball floated over Gomes but bounced off the junction of post and bar.
Linn picked up on a poor Elgin pass to surge into the home box but his driven ball was blocked by keeper Cammy Mackay.
First half bookings for Hamilton and Little were to come to light later in the game, firstly when Hamilton appeared to upend Gunn just inside the box on 49 minutes but no penalty was awarded.
The visitors nearly went in front five minutes later from a Linn cross which Ryan McCord headed against the bar.
Little was dismissed for a sliding tackle in the muddy conditions, leaving his team a man short for the closing 20 minutes.
Yet Arbroath nearly scored when Doris slid in to meet sub Omar Kader’s low cross and appeared to be nudged as he tried to turn the ball home, another penalty shout turned down.
Right at the death, the visitors broke through Linn but from eight yards he dragged his effort into the side netting.