Bryan Young admitted he felt "flat" after Beith failed to land a knockout blow on Kilbirnie Ladeside as it ended goalless in the Garnock Valley derby.
All roads led to Valefield for a West of Scotland League Premier Division showdown with plenty riding on it – particularly for the home side.
However, neither team could make the crucial breakthrough which leaves Kilbirnie five points adrift of safety having played more games than their relegation rivals.
It was a case of accepting a point from the 10-minute trip along the road for Beith boss Young but not being overly happy with it.
He told Ayrshire Football News: "It was a typical derby, wasn't it? The park was quite heavy and you could see there wasn't much quality in the game from both sides.
"I'm a wee bit frustrated. I felt we dominated the first half but we allowed Kilbirnie to come back into it in the second half.
"I'm disappointed and a wee bit flat. A point each was probably the fairest result and put it this way, there won't be many views in the highlights. Flat's probably the best way to describe it."
Young hailed centre-back Dan O'Neill who was part of a classy Beith defence and added: "For being such a young boy, he was exceptional. He's been like that for weeks. To play three at the back and look that comfortable, you don't often see that."
The first real chance arrived midway through the first half for Beith when a Connor McGlinchey free-kick found Josh Fowler in the area but his backflick was deflected wide.
Six minutes later, Beith threatened again but Kilbirnie keeper Joe Wilton made a brilliant save down low to his left to deny O'Neill from a McGlinchey corner.
Set-piece situations were giving the Blasties cause for concern and, in the 38th minute, O'Neill curled a shot just over after he got on the end of a second ball from another McGlinchey delivery.
Much of the good work done in the final third by Kilbirnie came through Jon Scullion and he advanced a minute before the break but his final effort was a little on the high side.
Nerves were getting frayed in the second half and you wondered if a moment of magic or a fatal mistake would end up settling this slugfest in the sunshine.
Opportunities were scarce, however, in the 80th minute, Beith tested the hosts when substitute Kevin Watt's cross was headed over by Nick Docherty.
At the other end, Scullion laid off for Liam McGuinness as he surged towards the box but the centre-back got his final shot all wrong and Beith were able to breathe a sigh of relief.
It was frantic stuff at times with plenty of endeavour from both teams but a lack of quality at key moments meant a point apiece was the fair outcome.
Blasties co-boss Shaun Dillon told Ayrshire Football News: "There were a lot of battling qualities shown by both teams. We had a wee go at half-time and were looking for a reaction. I thought we were the better team in the second half.
"We played Hurlford last week and won so I don't think many people would have us taking four points from these two games. We keep fighting to stay in this league."
Don't miss the latest Ayrshire headlines – sign up to our free daily newsletter here
