St Johnstone secured a hard fought and deserved point in Aberdeen.
It was the second 0-0 league draw between these two teams this season and, as with the first one at McDiarmid Park, the Reds had more of the ball but Saints the better chances.
David Wotherspoon hit the post with a late free-kick and Murray Davidson and Blair Alston had both come close to scoring before that.
The Saints’ team-sheet revealed worrying news for the 285 travelling fans, with no Danny Swanson on it.
The influential playmaker had a hip injury (which should only keep him out for around a week) and his place was taken by Chris Kane.
Saints made a pretty decent start though, keeping an attacking Aberdeen side, which had put five past Kilmarnock in midweek, quiet.
And Tommy Wright’s men had the first clear-cut chance of the match.
On 19 minutes Davidson timed his run into the box perfectly but he dragged his shot past the post from a Steven MacLean cut-back. If anything, it was a more straightforward finish than the one he scored against Inverness Caley Thistle last weekend.
Within a minute Aberdeen had a near-miss of their own when an unmarked Andrew Considine headed a James Maddison corner over the bar.
Then on 27 minutes a long-range dipping volley from Peter Pawlett had Zander Clark beaten but just missed his right hand post.
With half-time approaching Steven Anderson came to the rescue with a text-book sliding tackle to stop James Maddison from being in on goal after his quick feet had left two Perth men sat on the Pittodrie turf.
Derek McInnes made a double half-time substitution, bringing Shaleum Logan and Jayden Stockley on for the ineffective Pawlett and Niall McGinn. And it was the Dons who started the second half better, with Jonny Hayes forcing a good low save out of Clark seconds after the re-start.
On 53 minutes Stockley met an outswinging corner well but his header went straight at Clark.
After soaking up a lot of Aberdeen pressure Saints were able to load the box on 74 minutes when they were awarded a free-kick in midfield. It was delivered to the back post, Anderson recycled it and substitute Cummins lashed a volley over.
There was an even better chance six minutes later. Graeme Shinnie was short with a back pass and another sub, Blair Alston, got to the ball before Joe Lewis. He toe-poked it past the Aberdeen keeper but it rolled just the wrong side of the post.
On 88 minutes Wotherspoon hit the post with a free-kick, just as he did at a similar stage of the game in the Betfred Cup quarter-final earlier in the season.
Thankfully for Saints, though, this time there was no Aberdeen winner to follow it.
