Fourth-placed Motherwell maintained their six-point lead over Hibernian in the Scottish Premiership but failed to put pressure on the top three before the international break after a stalemate at Fir Park.
In-form Elijah Just appeared to have broken the deadlock with a close-range finish midway through the first half, but his strike was ruled out for an earlier offside.
A third consecutive draw for David Gray’s team means they failed to significantly rein in Jens Berthel Askou’s side for the third game in a row when the opportunity was there.
Motherwell maintained their long unbeaten home run that stretches all the way back to mid-October, having conceded just one goal at Fir Park in that sequence.
Everything pointed to a thrilling encounter. The stakes, the styles and the conditions. Sadly, that notion was misplaced with chances few and far between.
Motherwell probed, unusually, with little impact. Hibernian, in the main, sat solid before threatening as the game developed.
It was as if both sides were getting electric shocks when they entered the final third such was the paucity of direct efforts on goal until late on.
From nowhere , Motherwell looked like they had a vital early opener. Martin Boyle, on his 400th Hibernian outing, lost possession, Oscar Priestman shot and the ball fell perfectly for Just who netted.
His delight was short-lived as Priestman was judged offside after a video assistant referee review.
After the break, Premiership top scorer Tawanda Maswanhise sclaffed in front of goal. At the other end, Jamie McGrath was superbly denied by Elliot Watt’s tackle.
Boyle then nearly capped his landmark appearance with a dipping volley that dipped just too late and over the bar as the visitors began to threaten.
Not enough, as they remain six adrift of their hosts with seven games remaining.
