Derry, who went into the game three points behind a Shels side who also have a game in hand, were the better side in the opening spell at Tolka but the game changed when Derry defender Sam Todd was sent off, with almost an hour to play, for a second bookable offence. Higgins maintains that, if it had been eleven against eleven, his side may have gained the upper hand but he was still proud of the effort from his team. "I found out that we are up for it, I found out that we are made of the right stuff, and let's be honest, there's more than two teams involved in it.
Anyone who thinks any different is wrong, so it makes it very interesting and exciting but I have no doubt after this result that we are up for the challenge,” Higgins said. "I thought 11 v 11, we should have been two or three up, we were the better team, the dominant team and we looked like we were in the ascendancy and then we get a man sent off, obviously your plan flips on its head and you have to become more of a counter-attacking threat. But I am really proud of the players, we saw two sides of us, at 11 v 11 we played some beautiful football, 11 v 10 we rolled our sleeves up, showed proper commitment, proper desire, and thoroughly deserved a point and over the 95 minutes had the better chances.
"I am proud of the players, to a man, they poured their guts out on the pitch, it gives you real pride and you believe in the group as they've given absolutely everything to make sure we left with a minimum of a poi.