Noel King and Dundalk make their point with draw against Shelbourne

And that proved to be the case as his side were frustrated by a fine Dundalk performance in Noel King’s second game in charge.

You wouldn't have known this was a top versus bottom meeting on the balance of play.

Dundalk peppered Conor Kearns' goal with several efforts throughout the clash and although the winner never came, the Lilywhites supporters will leave Oriel Park happier, having secured a fifth home clean sheet in a row.

Scottish striker Jamie Gullan went close to putting the hosts ahead on two occasions in the first half, as Shels found opportunities few and far between, bar a late Sean Boyd effort, in front of 2,086.

Duff’s men retained their two-point lead at the summit after Shamrock Rovers also drew tonight. The stalemate saw Dundalk cut the gap on ninth-placed Drogheda to just two points ahead of the Louth Derby on Bank Holiday Monday.

They may have begun the night bottom of the Premier Division but it was Dundalk, who flew out of the traps here with Koen Oostenbrink enjoying the first chance of the evening.

But the Dutch man, who returned to the starting XI, totally misjudged his effort, firing high and wide.

The Lilywhites came forward again and Gullan, who arrived from Raith Rovers in January, had three fine chances to put his side ahead afterwards.

Moments after Oostenbrink’s miss, the 24-year-old picked up possession just inside the box but saw his effort well saved by Conor Kearns.

Ireland international Daryl Horgan’s excellent cross then came his way on 15 minutes, but Gullan was a fraction of a second too late to meet it.

Shels soon settled though but were finding chances hard to come by.

Liam Burt worked himself into some good positions on the wings, but any ball into the final third was met by a strong Dundalk clearance, as King’s side were tight at the back when out of possession.

Gullan’s fine touch opened up a superb chance to take the lead on the half-hour mark, but his half volley was well held by Kearns – another warning sign for the visitors.

Fresh from scoring the winner in last week’s Dublin derby victory over St Patrick’s Athletic, John Martin then tried his luck from distance but his effort landed closer to the corner flag rather than the goal.

Although they didn’t have a goal to show for their efforts, Dundalk went in at the break by far the happier side.

The league leaders needed a spark.

Dundalk attacker Robbie Benson, who was making his 300th league appearance, shot over the bar moments after the restart. Duff then opted for two changes and introduced Boyd and Shane Farrell – the latter making his first appearance since his sending off against Shamrock Rovers last month.

With Duff hoping his changes would give Shels the upperhand, it was Dundalk who almost took the lead just after the hour mark. Horgan showed great agility to spin by his marker and test Kearns, who did well to hold the driving effort on goal.

Benson then had Kearns worried for a moment when the 31-year-old went inches from his third of the season through a 30-yard piledriver on 70 minutes.

But Shelbourne almost snatched a late winner. Substitute Boyd was denied by the right hand of George Shelvey two minutes from time, before the 25-year-old striker went whisker away from converting Farrell’s excellent cross moments later.

The Oriel Park faithful applauded their side off the pitch at the full-time whistle. They may not have found the winner here, but under their new boss, it looks like Lilywhites have found their confidence again.

Dundalk: Shelvey; Davies, Johnson, Boyle, Bradshaw; High (O’Kane 90), Oostenbrink (Muller 84); Mountney (Durrant 77), Benson, Horgan; Gullan (Kenny 90).

Shelbourne: Kearns; Wilson, Barrett, Molloy, Ledwidge; Coyle, Lunney (Williams 83); Burt (Caffrey 75), Smith (Farrell 61), Jarvis; Martin (Boyd 61).

Ref: E O’Shea.