It was, you could say, nothing to write home about. A drab contest between two sides who seemed incapable for long stretches of kicking the ball from A to B without involving it in a lengthy detour to C, this being a point in the sky far, far above the pitch at Dalymount.

The surface got the blame with the Dubliners particularly keen to put their own failings down to the bumps and mounds, most of which, presumably, will still be there on Saturday night when everybody heads back to Phibsboro to make a second stab at rounding off the domestic season.

Nevertheless both managers were pleased after yesterday's first attempt. Dave Barry because his players had performed well on the day and, arguably should have won it, Damien Richardson because, in contrast to Oriel Park a week ago his men, having failed once again to produce their best, had this time gotten away with it.

In midfield, he admitted, his creative players had failed to produce the goods and as a result there was little sparkle up front. At the back, however, Alan Gough was rarely threatened and that if nothing else, he felt, entitled the Dubliners to another crack of the whip.

"We deserved the draw and having gotten it, and put the defeat in the league behind us, I think the mood in training will be a lot better this week," said the Shelbourne manager. "Cork played well in the second half today but the replays are always better with cup finals and we'll all be looking forward to Saturday night now."

Richardson's decision to make changes to his starting line up was hailed as a psychological victory for Cork by City boss Dave Barry, who said that he had felt that the return of experienced players like Greg Costello and Declan Geoghegan had showed how much respect his men had earned over the past season.

And yesterday, he said, many of his men had further enhanced their reputations with a performance that they could be proud of even if they hadn't quite managed to turn second half pressure into a winner.

"We came up here with an experienced squad of players in '92 and we barely created a chance. Today, it was a first cup final for most of the team but they all performed and I was very pleased with the way that they played.

"Shelbourne had a couple of goal-line clearances when we had chances in the second half to win it but the fact that we were playing behind them, getting people into the box and creating those chances pleased me a lot."

Let's hope the 14,000 or so in the crowd and those tuning in at home found it as easy to see the bright side of things.