This was just a good hit-out for two sides from which much is expected this season.
Both had key players missing and Sydney in particular will be glad of the point and pleased with the successful A-League initiation of two new players.
Melbourne dominated most of the first half and finished on top, but coaches of both sides knew it easily could have been worse.
Melbourne missed two nearly unmissable chances and if a Sydney free kick had not hit the post - who knows?
For Sydney, veteran Steve Corica started up front with teenager A-League debutant Chris Payne, who had the privilege of almost literally being blooded by Melbourne's former Socceroo hard-man Kevin Muscat.
Melbourne, without Archie Thompson and Grant Brebner for the season opener, had two other key players in the thick of the action from start. Matthew Kemp found new striker Ney Fabiano in the right corner, but the Brazilian striker's cross was poor.
Tom Pondeljak caught Nikolas Tsattalios on the ball, and Payne competed well for an Adam Casey cross and won Sydney's first corner, which Sydney's other newbie, Shannon Cole, over-hit.
Terry McFlynn fouled Pondeljak 25 metres from the Sydney goal. The free kick was allowed to drift over the goal line.
Fabiano got away on a break but Clint Bolton came off his line to block the shot.
McFlynn sent Casey away down the right but Casey hit only a soft cross in to Melbourne keeper Michael Theoklitos.
Fabiano set Daniel Allsopp free into the Sydney penalty area, where he rounded Timpano and Bolton again saved. Tsattalios blocked Pondeljak shooting on the rebound.
Payne had the temerity to take on Muscat and Rodrigo Vargas on the edge of the Melbourne penalty area. Vargas cleared and Muscat decked Payne with a passing clip on the back of the head, as if to say, "Don't get too cocky, young pup. You're messing with the big boys now".
It was getting to be a physical game.
McFlynn put a good clearing pass through to Corica who found Payne on his way to goal, but Payne's first touch let him down.
It took nearly 20 minutes for Sydney to look like they were going somewhere.
Fabiano clobbered Tsattalios and when the free kick was cleared McFlynn shot high.
A foul by Timpano gave the Sydney defender a yellow card and Melbourne a free kick outside the top left corner of the Sydney penalty area. The Carlos Hernandez kick was a decent low shot which Bolton collected safely.
Another Melbourne free kick from the right sideline went high and Bolton leapt to hold.
Cole, playing on the left, wasn't afraid to take players on and Payne even managed to put Muscat off his game occasionally. Sydney might have been thinking that something good could come their way.
But the home side was in serious trouble when Allsopp crossed from the right and defender Rob Middleby fell over as the ball passed the goalmouth. Fabiano, through Pondeljak, had the ball on the edge of the goal box and Bolton somehow stopped the shot ' but the flag was up and Sydney had been saved in any case.
Cole had some work to do taking a couple more Sydney corners, Melbourne again missed right in front, thanks to Hernandez mistiming.
Sydney countered and a cross from Casey just slipped between goal and the oncoming Payne.
Jose Luis Lopez pounced on a loose ball in the Sydney penalty area and popped a shot up to Bolton.
Simon Colosimo was playing a composed and sensible game. He robbed Allsopp and Payne received a ball on the edge of the Melbourne penalty area but lost out to three Victory defenders.
The game was literally going from end to end; things were a little more frantic at the Sydney end, though. Tsattalios air-swung in the Sydney penalty area after Timpano made a saving clearance.
Corica supplied Payne on the right of the Melbourne box and Payne shot harmlessly across the face of goal.
Then Timpano racing back cleared a cross from Kemp over his own goal line before it could reach Pondeljak and Fabiano.
Sydney were fortunate to survive the first half unscathed, but there were also some signs of hope up front.
I was still in the beer queue when the second half started. Not because the queue was long, but because I had been exchanging professional perspectives with a fellow scribe. Perhaps there weren't enough people to put pressure on the food and beverage outlets. Perhaps they were too expensive. Perhaps it was too cold.
There was a huge roar. Then booing. As though a goal had been scored and disallowed. But apparently there had just been a collision. I gleaned this from Sydney fans to my rear. There were familiar faces in front of me. But seats on either side of me were empty. Either season tickets were unsold or ticket holders stayed home preparing for the Olympic Games match between the Netherlands and Argentina.
A couple of empty seats were briefly occupied by Melbourne fans checking out the view and making a price comparison with similar seats in their home stadium.
One was conversationally gifted, talking to his companion and a Sydney couple behind him and to someone else by phone in another part of the stadium. He wanted to know when Corica's contract was up, because without him Sydney didn't have a team.
His assessment of the first half was that, apart from Fabiano only being able to score with his head and something about Hernandez and defence, Melbourne were dominating.
His friend didn't seem as knowledgeable. But he thought Melbourne were playing too many long balls and dribbled too much. And he counted the rows of Melbourne fans to calculate there were 500 of them. This guy seemed more interested in entertaining the small children of Sydney fans than what was happening on the pitch. Until he noticed an attractive young woman and attempted in vain to lure her into one of the empty seats near him.
Corica worked some magic, Cole had nowhere to go and Colosimo shot wide.
My half-time discussion included speculation about when Payne would be replaced and by whom. Fifteen minutes into the second half Mark Bridge left the bench and for a little while made a difference.
Fabiano shot wide again, Evan Berger was replaced by Billy Celeski, who also made an immediate impact, and referee Mark Shield stopped play so one of numerous flares could be cleared away. (This prompted my new Melbourne friend to lament the level of security in Melbourne; he couldn't even take his drum to the ground!)
In the 67th minute Sydney came close to scoring through Casey, courtesy of Bridge, but Theoklitos got down to save at Casey's feet. A minute later Corica was through to the edge of the penalty area but Lopez cynically brought him down and earned a yellow card. Cole's free kick hit the left post.
Michael Thwaite, good defender and deliverer of fine crosses, shot high, Celeski saw one of his low crosses cleared and Middleby hurt himself as another Melbourne cross came in from the right.
Another Thwaite cross flew across the face of goal and Fabiano missed a sitter (perhaps what that Melbourne fan said was true').
Cole was brought down 25 metres from goal and took the free kick, hitting it just over the crossbar.
In the 78th minute two clearances from the Sydney penalty area went straight to Melbourne players, the last shot from the scramble going into the side netting.
Bridge had been looking okay but then Lopez beat him to a pass. Legs gone already. Blame the Olympics' Lionel Messi still seemed to be running strong. Lopez soon hit a good, low shot to Bolton. Then he was fouled by McFlynn. The free kick went safely to Bolton, who started throwing the ball out because his kicking was proving unreliable.
Now Melbourne might have been dominating. But Sydney always seemed to look like they had a chance. It was an interesting and sometimes exciting game to watch. That Sydney were relieved to escape with a point wasn't really obvious until the closing minutes. Melbourne attacked for all they were worth and Sydney just tried to weather the storm.
The bitter shock of realisation.
Nevertheless, a Sydney fan behind me was happy with Cole. And thought Hernandez and Lopez were good for Melbourne. He was critical of Sydney for not moving the ball quickly enough and for wasting too much time passing across the park and giving Melbourne time to regroup.
A urinal conversation indicated that the Melbourne fan was not alone in thinking more about women than football. One guy: "I want to see more goals". The other guy: "I want to see more chicks. I don't care about goals".
Sydney coach John Kosmina thought the game had been an important battle for Sydney. Bolton had been exceptional, he said.
Despite the struggle for possession in the first half Sydney had taken the game to Melbourne in the second half and something could have come from it.
He admitted that his players were nervous in defence, excusing Timpano for having little recent match practice.
With so many players unavailable he commended those who had to step up.
Corica said the draw was a decent result because Melbourne were a good team. He said Payne did well against one of the hardest defenders in the league.
Kosmina said both Payne and Cole did well and that Payne had learnt as he went along. Bridge's experience had been necessary, however. He said Cole would grow in stature with more time and that he would get more time.
Melbourne coach Ernie Merrick felt his team should have taken three points; they had missed four gilt-edged chances.
He said his defence had been very good and he was clearly proud they had preserved four clean sheets in a row. Corica was the biggest problem and when that was addressed it was easier, he said.
Contrary to the Melbourne fan who sat next to me, Merrick was happy with the quality of Melbourne's passing in the first half. He said Muscat had been composed and delivered some good balls.
Asked to compare the standard of the A-League with that of the former national competition, Thwaite said the NSL had technically gifted players but with the A-League and the Socceroos program there had been tactical advances.