Okay, I think we are not understanding each other here somehow.

'это была ничья'... In this sentence, ничья is nominative, yes?
That was part of what I was asking, although I can see now the answer must be yes...

I think maybe I need to leave this alone and come back to it, I'm probably just missing something thats so simple I just can't communicate it. Thanks Lampada, maybe I'm just a bit tired!