In truth Aberdeen made one of their wort starts to a match since the start of the season, they barely touched the ball in the first ten minutes. Motherwell and Stuart McCall had obviously done their homework and were not going to give Aberdeen room for error. Right from the off the Dons were penned up inside their own half with the Steel men spraying the ball about in front of them. Then a rah clearance after a ball into the box Sutton found himself with the ball. He looped the ball over Langfield and into the back of the net. Aberdeen looked to be behind at Fir Park in the first five minutes again. Then after ten seconds the linesman did decide to raise his flag and chop the goal off due to Sutton being in an offside position. That was met with a great sigh of relief from the large travelling support. The main talking point of the half though followed, Francis-Angol ran at Shaughnessy down the right hand side of the pitch, the young defender decided to lung in on the winger and made a scissor challenge on the player. Half of the ground knew what was coming and the referee had no choice but to send young Joe Shaughnessy off. That put an end to his night. An instant re-shuffle was needed and the Dons bench came up with their plan. Sacrificed was Zola and on came Considine. It looked to be a 5-4-1 formation. Robertson and Ryan Jack were being played as wing backs. Motherwell were only bolstered by the decision of the referee and looked to press home their numerical advantage, however they could not find a way through the Aberdeen defence. Anderson, Reynolds and Considine were doing a brilliant job of keeping Well out and dealing with all long balls and crosses into the box. Langfield in goals didn't have a save to make all of Motherwell's efforts on goal were either dragged wide or sent high, high over the bar. Every touch of Francis-Angol was being booed by the Aberdeen fans, and their anger got worse when Pawlett was scythed down by Hutchinson - only to receive a yellow card. Then as if it couldn't get worse for Aberdeen, it did. Clark Robertson fell awkwardly after a challenge and had to be stretchered off. Once again Tony Docherty and Derek McInnes were trying to come up with some kind of plan as quickly as they could. The game raged on and the Dons had to temporarily continue with only nine men. Amazingly it was the Dons who carved open a chance on the break. McGinn robbed Hutchinson on the half way line and bore down on goal. A great tackle from McManus prevented the striker getting a shot away but conceded a corner. It remained at half time goal less.
The second half continued in the same way as the first. Motherwell attacking and Aberdeen defending. Aberdeen were holding strong at the back and did occasionally look dangerous in their ever rare forrays forward. The best chnce of the match for Motherwell cam though when Stuart Carswell blasted the ball at goal from 10 yards. Lanfield managed to make a good save though and prevented the home side from taking the lead. Another scare for Aberdeen came from a Motherwell corner. Hutchinson rose well and powered in a header that looked destined to hit the back of the net. However the saviour for the Dons this time was the bar, as the ball ricocheted off it and away to safety. Aberdeen managed to get a corner up the other end on eighty minutes and looked to make the most of the opportunity. The ball was swung in by Hayes and towering above everybody else to smash into the net was Andrew Considine. The Aberdeen fans behind the goal went crazy! The stewards and police did well to stop a flood of red and white onto the pitch. The Motherwell players and fans couldn't believe it, how were they a goal behind! On the restart they looked for an instant response and Dons fans were holding their breath. However it never came and deep into stoppage time Hayes powered out of his own half and was rewarded with his run by thundering in a strike high into the net. The relief of tension in the away end was visible as the goal was met by a wall of noise. The travelling support were going wild, they now knew that their team would be in the semi finals once again. After the match the players got a standing ovation from the near 3,000 Dons fans in the two tier stand who belted out renditions of "Stand Free, wherever you may be.." Aberdeen can now look to a semi final tie against St Johnstone on the 1st or 2nd of October!
Motherwell
- 12 Nielsen
- 04 Ramsden
- 03 Hammell
- 14 Lasley
- 05 Hutchinson Booked
- 06 McManus
- 18 Carswell Booked
- 08 Lawson (Ainsworth - 45' )
- 24 Anier (McHugh - 68' )
- 09 Sutton
- 17 Francis-Angol
Substitutes
- 07 McFadden
- 16 McHugh
- 20 Kerr
- 21 Stewart
- 25 Ainsworth
Aberdeen
- 01 Langfield
- 02 Shaughnessy Dismissed
- 03 Robertson (Vernon - 47' )
- 08 Flood
- 04 Anderson Booked
- 06 Reynolds
- 11 Hayes
- 22 Jack
- 10 McGinn
- 07 Zola (Considine - 21' )
- 16 Pawlett (Robson - 85' )
Substitutes
- 05 Considine
- 09 Vernon
- 15 Robson
- 17 Wylde
- 20 Weaver
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