Dundalk 0 Bohemians 0:PERHAPS THERE was a little too much at stake for these two as they turned their attention to a competition that both must reckon at this stage they could win if only they could produce their very best form on the right days. Neither managed it here and so they must meet for a third time in just over a week on Tuesday in Dublin where the spectators will at least be guaranteed an outcome and can consider themselves pretty annoyed if they don't get a better game.

Prior to last night, things had been close-to-even between them in the league although Bohemians’ 3-1 win at Dalymount on Monday gave them a slight edge over their rivals. Mark Quigley had said during the week he and his Dundalk team-mates would view that result as added motivation to get something out of this cup game.

However, as it turned out, it was he who looked by far the most fired up with the 25-year-old embarking on what seemed like a one-man crusade through the first half to both create and convert the chances required to pave Dundalk’s way into the semi-finals.

The former Bohemians striker proved a handful for Pat Fenlon’s men as he dropped deep to pick up possession, ran at defenders and repeatedly pulled opposing players out of position. His best moment, though, came early on when Mark Griffin played the ball short to him on the edge of the area and his improvised lob almost beat Barry Murphy.

Few of his other shots hit the target and while Murphy did have to get down well to his left midway through the opening half to push a low drive wide.

While their striker was at his best, Dundalk had the better of things but it was far from being one-sided stuff.

Neither side seemed capable of building any lasting momentum and the only consolation for Dundalk manager Ian Foster was that his side did at least generate a steady trickle of half chances with the possession they enjoyed.

Bohemians, by contrast, had a fair bit of the ball in midfield but up front, where Aidan Downes received little enough support, they struggled.

Having hit the target in two of the four league games between the sides, Bohemians’ Ger O’Brien really should have opened the scoring towards the end of the first half and for a moment the bulk of the visiting support thought he had until it became apparent that the midfielder had fired into the side netting.

Dundalk goalkeeper Peter Cherrie, in fact, was only forced to make one save of any note during the opening hour or so but that, to be fair, was a fine one-handed catch after Killian Brennan’s long angled free had been turned across the face of the goal by Aidan Price and Downes had sought to wrongfoot the goalkeeper with his header towards the top corner.

It got better after the break although sadly for the locals Quigley didn’t become anymore ruthless.

With 18 minutes left to play, the Dubliner was set up nicely again by Griffin but fluffed what was by far his best chance of the game.

By that stage, in any case, he had been eclipsed somewhat as the game’s most creative force by Brennan whose darting runs, either out of defence or towards goal from midfield met with a mixture of begrudging appreciation and outright hostility from the bulk of the crowd.

Around him, though, the rest of Fenlon’s five-man midfield simply couldn’t generate the attacking impetus required to break the home side down. They had a couple of half chances and as the sudden-death nature of the contest increased, players tired and it all opened up a bit but the bulk of the game continued to consist of a midfield battle which neither side had the wherewithal to win.

Bohemians, inevitably, will be the happier of the two about getting another crack at it.

DUNDALK: Cherrie; Madden, C Byrne, Bennett, McHugh; Breen, Ward, Bolger, Gaynor; Quigley; Griffin (J Byrne, 79 mins).

BOHEMIANS: Murphy; Heary, Burns, Price, Rossiter; Cronin; Flood (Buckley, 76 mins), Hurley (Bayly, 67 mins), Brennan, O’Brien (Traynor, 83 mins); Downes.

Referee: A Buttimer (Cork)