Bohemians were held to a scoreless draw by Sligo Rovers at Dalymount Park in a pulsating affair.

Following a fiery opening period, both teams had a player sent off with Bohemians losing Danny Joyce, while Sligo Rovers saw Gavin Peers went for two yellow cards.

In spite of those dismissals, there was still plenty to keep supporters on the edge of their seats as the balance swung back and forth between the sides in an open first period.

There were few clear-cut scoring chances, although Alan Kirby twice showed his intent to break the deadlock as the Sligo midfielder unleashed efforts from long range.

Bohs had their moments in front of goal too with striker Anthony Flood forcing keeper Brendan Clarke into two saves, although neither shot had the power needed to beat the shot-stopper.

With one minute to go before the half-time interval, Bohs keeper Chris O’Connor collided with Sligo’s John Dillon and had to be stretchered off with what looked to be a facial injury.

Barry Murphy took over in goal although he wasn’t called on for Sligo’s next two chances as Kirby fired over and Raffaele Cretaro failed to hit the target with his header.

The Bit O’Red continued to press forward and came close to scoring when in-form Eoin Doyle peeled away from his marker before striking the post with a fine shot from outside the penalty area.

Bohs’ best effort came through substitute Chris Fagan, who cut inside his marker and let rip with a low drive that Clarke got down to palm away for a corner kick.

That was the last meaningful chance of the game as the points were shared out, which was probably the fairest result considering both teams kept fighting right to the end.

BOHEMIANS: O’Connor (Murphy 45); Joyce, Heary, Burns, Rossiter; Buckley, Bayly, Cronin, Brennan; Traynor, Flood (Fagan 63).

SLIGO ROVERS: Clarke; Keane, Peers, McGuinness, Davoren (Greene 47); Dillon (Russell 63), Ryan, Ventre, Kirby (Blinkhorn 76), Creatro; Doyle.

REFEREE: D Hancock (Dublin).