Goal-shy St Johnstone remain bottom of the table after blowing a big opportunity to leapfrog Dundee.
Saints would have jumped above their Tayside neighbours in the standings had they managed to carve out a victory under the lights.
But a nervy 0-0 draw was played out at McDiarmid Park and that still leaves Callum Davidson’s side looking up at the Premiership.
The result did halt a run of 10 consecutive defeats but the performance would do little to lift the spirits of the Perth faithful.
On the team news front, Callum Hendry was recalled from his Kilmarnock loan on Monday but was thrown straight into the heat of battle.
The forward had netted five goals in 15 appearances in the Scottish Championship and returned to partner Nadir Ciftci.
For Hendry, it was the first time he had pulled on a Saints top since the opening game of the season against Ross County in Dingwall.
He was one of four changes from the grim Kelty Hearts defeat, replacing Chris Kane, while Tony Gallacher, Charlie Gilmour and Ali Crawford also dropped to the bench.
Given the nod and a starting spot were Callum Booth, Murray Davidson and Cammy MacPherson, the latter this week signed on a permanent deal from St Mirren.
Perth boss Davidson had asked the fans to turn out in force and provide the vocal backing from the stands. As the teams emerged from the tunnel, an East Stand banner read: ‘We’ll keep the blue flag flying high’.
Saints appeared keen from the off but on just eight minutes Ciftci hobbled out of the action with what appeared to be a hamstring issue. Kane, no stranger to a goal against Dundee, was called from the bench.
Not long after Jamie McCart sent a header from a MacPherson corner straight at visiting goalkeeper Adam Legzdins and that went down as the best chance of the early exchanges.
In the 14th minute, everyone in the stadium was standing - the game paused too - to applaud inspirational Perth girl Lily Douglas. She sadly passed away on Sunday aged 14.
The home crowd kept the volume cranked up but a clear-cut chance was still to arrive as the game reached the half hour mark.
MacPherson, moments later, did whip in a delightful corner kick which had Legzdins flapping but no Saints player was positioned to knock the ball into the net.
Zander Clark’s gloves were warmed up for the first time with 39 minutes on the clock, although Max Anderson’s low strike from the edge of the box was never going to beat the big goalkeeper.
It would come as no surprise to Scottish football fans around the country when a half-time score of 0-0 filtered in from McDiarmid Park. This had been a cagey affair and there remained a nervousness to the beginning of the second half.
MacPherson attempted to break the deadlock on 50 minutes with an ambitious free-kick from wide before a great opportunity arrived.
It stemmed from a lofted ball over the top and suddenly determined Hendry was on his bike and drifting into the box. He showed off his neat feet and went for the low route but Legzdins saved well.
Kane was next to break clear on the hour mark but, after fronting up defender Liam Fontaine, was unable to find a piece of magic to create space for a clean strike.
Up the other end, Leigh Griffiths was on the hunt for some magic of his own and sent a powerful left-footed strike towards the bottom corner. Clark, though, was down quickly to push away from danger.
Saints’ first substitute to find a spark arrived in the 85th minute with Stevie May replacing a tiring Hendry, who had certainly given his all.
Dundee almost stole the three points very late in the day when Charlie Adam powered into the box at an angle and drilled the ball across the box. McCart was positioned well to clear.
