It proved to be a colourless occasion with neither side finding the final delivery to carve out much in the way of clear cut opportunities although Chelsea keeper Lenny Pidgeley (pictured) produced the save of the night to earn his clear sheet and Chelsea struck woodwork with a set-piece. 
The opening half was the more uneventful of the two, Chelsea taking time to settle having been asked to play a new formation in the absence of the injured Sebastian Kneissl.
It was the 4-2-3-1 shape used occasionally by José Mourinho for the first team, this time with Danny Woodards handed the task of operating as central striker; Filipe Morais, Filipe Oliveira and Joe Tillen the supporting cast.
The recently in-form Oliveira tried his luck from 25 yards after ten minutes but was off-target as Chelsea pressed first. Joe Tillen got the better of right-back Ifil but his lay-back was softly struck by brother Sam and Cerny saved.
It took an important interception by Nuno Morais to halt a dangerous-looking Spurs attack but Pidgeley in the Chelsea goal was hardly being overworked.
Just before the half-hour a clattering foul by Sean Davis on Sam Tillen drew the first booking but it took until two minutes before the break for the first truly incisive attack of the half. Spurs keeper Cerny needed to be sharp off his line to gather before Joe Tillen could make something out of Oliveira’s flick.
Spurs started the brighter after the break, Pidgeley called upon to save at his near-post from Yeates after good work on the right by Ifil. That save was regulation; his double save ten minutes later wasn’t.
Spurs centre-back O’Donoghue met a corner with a thumping header that looked all the way a goal until the Chelsea keeper appeared to claw it away from under the bar, dropping sharply to deal with the follow-up shot too.
Oliveira was the first Chelsea booking, a harsh one for a phantom handball and there was an escape when Hoddle-signing Bunjevcevic, operating on the night in midfield, volleyed well over.
Then came the moment that could have swung the game Chelsea’s way. With 62 minute gone, Rodrigo Defendi tugged at Joe Tillen as the left-winger broke through, the Spurs man sharp enough to halt him before the area but stupid enough to do it when clearly the last defender.
O’Donoghue was sent-off but his team went otherwise unpunished, Filipe Morais coaxing his free-kick past the wall but onto the post.
Hollands was booked for a foul, with Tillen and Ifil following him later for squaring-up, the referee not slow to flash his cards.
Chelsea set about making the most of the advantage and upped the tempo. A moment of inspiration from Oliveira on the right ended with a deep cross that Joe Tillen drove across goal and wide. Hollands, who along with Grant had worked hard to break up Spurs rhythm, advanced but dipped a shot over with 20 minutes to go.
Time began to run out, the best chance of the second-half going spare when Watt met a corner with a firm header but picked out the keeper’s grasp.
Come the final action of the game there was relief in the Chelsea camp as Spurs narrowly failed to land a sucker punch, a free-kick to the far-post just missed by two stretching legs. A healthy 1,539 crowd had to settle for a goalless evening.
The result leaves Chelsea seven points behind fifth-placed Spurs with three games to go.
Chelsea:
Lenny Pidgeley; Dean Smith, Steven Watt, Nuno Morais, Sam Tillen; Anthony Grant, Danny Hollands (capt); Filipe Morais (Philip Younghusband 80), Filipe Oliveira, Joe Tillen (James Simmonds 90); Danny Woodards.
Tottenham:
Radek Cerny, Phil Ifil, Marcel McKie, Goran Bunjevcevic, Paul O'Donoghue, Rodrigo Defendi, Spase Dilevski, Sean Davis (Kieran McKenna 65), Mark Yeates, Michael Malcolm (Jamie O'Hara 65), David Limbersky.
by Paul Mason