Home United bounced back from last week's shock defeat to Harimau Muda as they held high-flying Albirex Niigata (S) to a 0-0 draw in the Great Eastern Yeo's S.League on Wednesday night at the Yishun Stadium.
Both sides had their share of opportunities in an even contest but were just unable to find the back of the net.
However, the result still meant the Protectors restored some pride following last Friday's stunning 1-0 defeat at the hands of Harimau Muda. Home proved to be worthy opponents against a side that entered Wednesday's game off the back of five straight wins.
Home started the game the brighter of the two sides. Ambroise Begue scuffed a shot wide in the sixth minute after being released by Song Ui-young.
Ang Zhiwei then almost caught Yosuke Nozawa off his line with a lob in the 21st minute -- but Kento Fujihara was alert and raced back to head off the line.
The visitors gradually found their rhythm and threatened six minutes later when Kento Nagasaki unleashed a snapshot from the edge of the box only for Hyrulnizam Juma'at to push it wide.
Rion Taki, Albirex's two-goal hero in last week's win over Geylang International, was next to threaten in the 63rd minute as he forced his way free down the left and into the box only to fire a low shot into the post.
The White Swans came close again with six minutes remaining when a loose ball broke to Fumiya Kogure inside the area. But just when it looked like he would find the net with a blistering strike, Hyrulnizam produced a flying save to push it wide.
In the 90th minute, the hosts had one final chance to steal the win when Yasir Hanapi crossed from the left wing and picked out Nur Hizami, only for him to smash a ferocious shot into the side netting.
Speaking after the game, Protectors boss Philippe Aw was understandably pleased with the effort of his players. "Overall, I'm happy with the point," he said. "We knew it was a tough game coming off the back of the loss to Harimau Muda, against a team which had won five games on the trot.
"We knew we had to really defend as a team and we did just that in the first half -- Albirex couldn't break us down.
"In the second half, they had more chances as we were pressing a bit too high. But in the end we're satisfied with the result."
Albirex boss Tatsuyuki Okuyama was content despite seeing their winning streak come to an end. "We knew it would be a difficult game," he said. "I'm satisfied with the defence. But, unfortunately, we just couldn't score the goal that would have won us the game."
Home United: Hyrulnizam Juma'at, Redzwan Atan, Abdil Qaiyyim, Juma'at Jantan, Ang Zhiwei, Yasir Hanapi, Song Ui-young, Fazli Ayob (Sufianto Salleh 78'), Stanely Ng (Nur Hizami Salim 85'), Ambroise Begue, Kamel Ramdani.
Albirex Niigata (S): Yosuke Nozawa, Mikiya Yamada, Takahiro Saito, Kento Fujihara, Itsuki Yamada, Hikaru Mizuno, Shun Inaba, Fumiya Kogure, Kento Nagasaki, Rion Taki, Shotaro Ihata (Rui Kumada 85').