Linfield 1 - Derry City 1:  Those who came to Windsor Park expecting a game good enough to match the sense of occasion went home disappointed last night as 34 years after they last faced each other in a competitive game, the two sides only went some way to furthering the case for an all-Ireland league by producing a contest that was fiercely contested and largely even, writes Emmet Malone at Windsor Park

On the entertainment front, though, it fell well short of what might have been expected with the home side perhaps showing the effects of the frantic schedule that comes with multiple cup runs and their visitors, after a decent first half, finding it difficult to hit the ground running in this, their first outing of the new campaign.

For the thousand or so City fans who travelled to the game there will have been little cause for complaint. For most of the night their side were slightly the better of the two, with Mark Farren and John O'Flynn opening up the home side's defence on a handful of occasions only to fall short when it came to applying the required finish.

They would have headed for home happier, of course, had their side won, which City came desperately close to doing thanks to Kevin McHugh who was making his competitive debut. With only seconds remaining Pat McCourt found Farren in space and last year's leading striker produced a shot that was deflected into the path of the former Finn Harps striker.

He rather coolly turned the ball home but the local support, angry that it had taken the referee until 10 minutes from time to book a Derry player in what was at times a tough enough game, finally warmed to the match officials as they combined to rule the goal out for offside.

It was something of a lucky escape for Linfield who, having sprung something of a surprise to win the competition last year, were struggling to live up to the expectations generated by their remarkable run of form since being dumped out of Europe back in August by Halmstads of Sweden.

It's an almost laughable measure of how easily Linfield have been running away with the Irish league this season that while they have neither failed to score in a game nor put 10 past any opponents, they have managed every number of goals in between those two figures at least once. Throw in the North's various other competitions and the statistics become even more bizarre with the team's front two, Peter Thompson and Glenn Ferguson having run up 75 goals between them before last night.

Ferguson, in fact, had failed to score in only two of the club's previous 18 games but it was his strike partner who lulled the home support into thinking it might be business as usual nine minutes into last night's encounter when he was quickest to react when David Forde fumbled a Noel Bailie free, hooking the ball into an almost empty net as City defenders scrambled in vain to close him down.

The lead came before the game had settled into any sort of pattern but the chance was well taken and over the course of the night David Jeffrey's side went on to produce glimpses of the sort of quick and controlled football that would explain their utter dominance north of the border in recent months.

Veteran Bailie remains hugely impressive at the heart of his team's defence while all across midfield they have capable ball players always willing to lend support to the strikers as well as one, Michael Gault, who can certainly time a tackle when the situation requires it.

City presented the sort of challenge Linfield have not been used to encountering during a run of 38 games unbeaten and their advantage was short-lived with Farren levelling things up from the penalty spot seven minutes later after Pat McCourt had been needlessly taken down by Pat McShane just inside the area.

The visitors dominated the rest of the opening half and occasionally went close to taking the lead as Alan Mannus struggled to assert himself either under high balls or in the midst of a crowded six-yard box.

O'Flynn went close from a tight angle while Farren was deprived of what looked a great scoring opportunity by Bailie's flawless challenge but the life largely faded from City's attacking game in the second half until the arrival of McHugh. In the meantime, Linfield had a decent penalty shout when Peter Hutton seemed to bodycheck Paul McAreavey but the referee waved play on and the home side never looked capable of grabbing a winner.

LINFIELD: Mannus; Ervin, Bailie, Murphy, McShane; Mouncey (Mulgrew, 89 mins), McAreavey, Gault, Kearney (Kearney, 84 mins); Thompson, Ferguson.

DERRY CITY: Forde; Deery (Hargan, 66 mins), Hutton, Oman, McCallion; McCourt, Molloy, Martyn (Higgins, 82 mins), Brennan; Farren, O'Flynn (McHugh, 77 mns).

Referee: A McCourt (Bangor).