Goalless draw number five for the season ensured Burton Albion have now ended a losing run that was threatening to cast them adrift in the Championship relegation battle.
It supplied them with a first clean sheet since January 1 - the last time they avoided defeat in the League - and provided another insight into the belief and confidence that is growing again among the ranks of Nigel Clough's Brewers.
The Albion team of this stalemate at Ipswich Town and the five-goal thriller at Aston Villa the week before is a far cry from the side that folded in defeat to Reading at the end of last month.
But just as with the Brewers' last 0-0 - at home to Norwich City on December 30 - this match will be filed into the 'what might have been?' category for Clough and his management team.
Playing a more composed, calculated and quality brand of football, Albion created much the better of the chances against a toothless Ipswich outfit.
Even in less than favourable conditions and on a pitch that cut up in the rain, the midfield trio of Jacob Davenport, Jamie Allen and Hope Akpan looked to get the ball down and urge Burton onto the front foot.
On that front foot, Darren Bent and Kyle McFadzean were brilliantly denied by Bartosz Bialkowski in the home goal, while Lloyd Dyer blasted a good early opening over.
Bialkowski could rightly claim credit for having earned his side four points against the Brewers this season, having kept them in touch at the Pirelli Stadium back in October before Martyn Waghorn’s equaliser and Bersant Celina’s last-gasp winner.
At the other end, Stephen Bywater was not forced into a single save of note at Portman Road.
He may well have spent more time fielding questions in his post-match media duties than having to deal with attempts from the Tractor Boys to break the deadlock.
Much of that was down to the work of the defensive four in front of Bywater, in dominant, unyielding form.
Given the make-up of that Albion defence, it is an even bigger positive to take after a run of 15 goals conceded in their previous four matches.
That, plus the nature of Burton's football, will be the aspects they draw upon ahead of next weekend's return home against Nottingham Forest.
That, and the valuable point gained in the Suffolk rain, of course.
Heading into the game, Ipswich were the only side to have competed in both of Albion's Championship campaigns that were yet to yield a single point to Clough's men.
In aiming to break that statistic, Albion were hit with the absences of Tom Flanagan, Ben Turner (both calf) and Luke Murphy (shin).
Coming the other way, Darren Bent and Martin Samuelsen were fit and available again - and both returned to the starting XI.
Bent was given the lone striker role in a 4-5-1, with previous incumbent Lucas Akins moved to right-back, John Brayford shifted across to the vacant left-back role and Tom Naylor partnering McFadzean at the heart of the defence.
Manchester City loanee Davenport continued in the holding role that saw him star on his League debut the previous week, with Akpan and Allen partnering him in the middle and given licence to push Burton forward.
Samuelsen took the right flank, with Dyer stationed on the left.
Both wingers were involved aplenty early on, symbolic of Burton's willingness to get the ball down and spread possession, Davenport - again impressive - at the heart of that.
A couple of Samuelsen deliveries from the right were headed clear by Luke Chambers, while the West Ham United loanee was slightly wasteful in firing over the bar from distance.
Dyer got into a much better position when he was afforded a chance. The move started at the back, Naylor pinging a diagonal ball forward for Akins, who cut across and squared for Dyer.
Albion's leading scorer stood his man up and burst into the box, before firing a rising effort just over with his unfavoured right boot.
In a turgid opening 45, that was the only meaningful chance. But it was Burton's play in the middle third that had them pegged as the better team.
Allen, Akpan and Davenport - hardly the most physically intimidating trio among the Championship's midfields - bossed that battle and kept possession ticking over, while Naylor and McFadzean cut out a series of aimless long balls from Ipswich to prevent their opponents getting in behind.
While more than one Burton pass went frustratingly astray as they looked to attack, the intent was encouraging.
After a dour first half, the Tractor Boys were unsurprisingly quicker out of the blocks after the break.
But that momentary spark only won them a few corners that Brayford - in supreme form on his 50th Football League start for Albion - headed powerfully clear.
And it was from the head of Burton's captain that the visitors earned their best chance of the game.
He stepped up well to meet a Bialkowkski goal-kick and nod it through on goal, for Bent to race onto.
The Derby County loanee had barely had a sighting of goal in the previous 120 minutes or so he had played for the Brewers, but this looked a chance tailor-made for him.
He outmuscled Cameron Carter-Vickers and bore down on goal from the left, only to see Bialkowski react well and deny Bent's low effort with his legs.
The game quickly returned to its previous pattern thereafter, Burton dominating the play but unable to capitalise in ruthless fashion.
A substitute apiece looked to add a spark. Mustapha Carayol came off the bench to fire a powerful strike into Bywater's sidenetting for the hosts, while Liam Boyce got another valuable run-out for Albion.
While he again linked play well, there was to be no dramatic late strike for the Northern Ireland international this time.
Instead, the final say would fall to Bialkowski, Ipswich's standout performer by some distance.
Samuelsen arrowed a well-taken corner towards the near post in the 90th minute, and McFadzean met it with a glancing header that then deflected up off Chambers.
The Ipswich keeper showed superb reactions and strong hands to divert it over the bar, much to the dismay of the 169 travelling Brewers fans who made good noise throughout.
Ipswich Town 0 - 0 Burton Albion
On a bitterly cold afternoon, those supporters will at least have been warmed by the sight of their side taking another step in the right direction.
As Clough commented after the game, this was not the display of a team currently rooted to the foot of the table.
The four-point gap between themselves and safety remains, though, and now only 15 games are left.
That is still plenty, of course.
There is a sense that the Brewers now stand on the edge of the most critical point of their entire season. The fact that they are finding their feet again could be crucial.
