If any sort of debriefing took place on the St Mirren team bus last night, assuming the players had the energy or the inclination following this high-tempo game, the burning question would have centred on how they managed to return to Paisley with a point.

This is something Craig Brown will also be wondering about as he contemplates his side's inability to punish defences struggling under their sustained pressure as Danny Lennon's men did.

Brown had bemoaned what he saw as negativity in the build-up to this game when he was reminded that his side had failed to record a win over yesterday's opponents in their last eight SPL meetings.

The Aberdeen manager pointed out that they had beaten St Mirren in the Scottish Cup, but this was the Pittodrie side's third goalless draw at home since the season started, meaning six points have been dropped.

"It's a compliment that teams come here and are very happy to leave with a point," Brown said. "But it's not what we want. We have to make sure we win the home games.

"I don't think St Mirren had one clear chance the whole game. We have to be pleased with the performance, the attitude and play was very good, but unfortunately we couldn't score."

Whatever the statistics, there was an effervescence about Aberdeen, an overspill almost from the previous week's display against Hearts. However, once again they failed to convert their superiority into goals.

Despite the hosts' inability to score, St Mirren goalkeeper Craig Samson had a busy first half, when he and his defence were tormented by crosses from Jonny Hayes and Ryan Fraser.

Even two close-range attempts from Stephen Hughes, energetic and influential in the Aberdeen midfield, brought no reward as he fluffed his first try before firing his second into Samson's arms.

There was reason for the visitors to be thankful to their goalkeeper later when he managed to scramble clear a header from Josh Magennis – introduced to the home line-up at right-back after the late withdrawal because of illness of Ryan Jack – after the ball had hit the post.

While St Mirren appeared not to have made the trip north with a draw on their minds, they had little option other than to defend, such was the ebullience of Aberdeen's approach.

A header from substitute Cammy Smith, soon after he replaced Fraser midway through the second half, cracked Samson's crossbar as Hayes – the provider of the cross – looked on in disbelief.

And, as they continued to pummel opposition that for much of the game chased shadows, Aberdeen were afforded two further opportunities, one for Scott Vernon as Russell Anderson headed down for him to shoot high from seven yards and, moments earlier, when Kenny McLean's pass-back from distance had Samson racing across his goal to prevent the ball from entering the net.

St Mirren grafted hard – they had to – but were generally over-run by a strident home side. Lennon, though, expressed his satisfaction at securing a draw.

"It has been a very demanding week with three games in six days," he said, "But we have picked up a valuable point. We had to do it in a way we are not used to. We usually enjoy long spells of possession and we like to boss the ball but to be fair to Aberdeen they put us under pressure for long periods in the game.

"There is no doubt they had the best opportunities of the match. I have to give a whole lot of credit to our boys for rolling up their sleeves and showing character. We matched their determination."