Derek McInnes made only one change to his starting eleven from the previous week. Willo Flood came in to take the place of Jonny Hayes who was dropped to the bench. The weather conditions in the north east of Scotland were adverse to say the least, strong winds swirled around the stadium while the rain was next to horrendous. However the money invested into the pitch in the summer seemed to be paying off now, as it more than stood up to its task.
Aberdeen started the game well, shooting towards the beach end. They gripped control of the game right from the off, and stated their intentions early as Pawlett had a shot at goal that was deflecte over the bar. Against the run of play though, still within the first ten minutes St Mirren had a goal ruled offside. McLean played a neat ball down the right in to Naysmith who slid the ball across the face of goal to Steven Thompson. Thompson made no mistake by finishing but the flag was up and Langfield made no attempt to even make the save. A spell of Dons pressure followed with several shots raining down on Kello in the St Mirren goal. On fifteen minutes Vernon controlled a low McGinn cross well after a ricochet and just dragged his shot wide of the post.
It was Vernon who did make the breakthrough in the game on nineteen minutes. The goal came from an anti-dons style of football this season, route one. Langfield thumped the ball up field from his hands, and the Buddies defence made the first mistake allowing the ball to bounce just behind them, misjudging the flight of the ball. Out rushed Kello as he spotted the danger but Vernon had his witts about him and nipped in between keeper and defender poking the ball past Kello and then calmly slotting home to give Aberdeen the lead. The delight of the fans was evident as a roar erupted around Pittodrie. Ten minutes or so later Vernon should have doubled his tally. Superb passing play from Considine who fizzed the Ball into Pawlett inside the box, aware of the run of Flood he touched the ball round the corner and Flood slipped the ball across the six yard box. Not expecting the ball to come to him Vernon yards away from the goal watched agonisingly as he slipped and fumbled the ball inches wide. It was a tap in.
McGowan fashioned Saints first real effort of the afternoon five minutes from the break with a tame curling effort from just outside the box. Langfield was not troubled and could have gathered the bll with his eyes closed.
The second half started a dull affair with both sides having periods of posession but doing nothing with it! However the half sprung to life in the sixty fifth minute when Barry Robson got the Pittodrie crowd off theor feet once again. This time however the goal came directly from a corner. Robson whipped in a wicked ball that the St Mirren keeper failed to deal with and the ball flew into the net. The experienced midfielder is finally off the mark for Aberdeen in terms of his goal tally. St Mirren did not really offer much in the way of a fight back and looked condemned to end their run of good form. Aberdeen by this stage were pleased with their lead and in no real rush to go bombing forward in search of more goals. They knew that this game was ties up, it was just a case of seeing it through.
Harkins drove a shot in at goal following a Steven Thompson knockdown just inside the box. The shot never looked dangerous and bounced harmlessly wide of the target. Hector should have ha the icing on the cake after a slck pass from McAusland, he passed the ball straight to the big centre back. Hector burst through the defence with only Kello between him and goal. However once he pulled the trigger he somehow managed to drag it wide, another poor miss.
Saint Mirren were more than lucky to escape the granite city with the scoreline at just two nil as in the final five minutes Aberdeen managed to build up some more threatening pressure. A couple more Vernon chances came and went as they were both saved and hit the woodwork. Aberdeen were cruising the game now and St Mirren more or less resigned in submission. All in all a good afternoon for the men in red with another victory keeping them in the money for that second spot. McInnes will be delighted with the performance that the team put in perhaps not the finishing however as it could have easily been five nil to the Dons.
FT: Aberdeen 2-0 St Mirren
Aberdeen
- 01 Langfield
- 27 Hector
- 06 Reynolds
- 08 Flood (Hayes - 54' )
- 04 Anderson
- 05 Considine
- 22 Jack Booked
- 15 Robson (Low - 71' )
- 10 McGinn
- 09 Vernon
- 16 Pawlett (Shaughnessy - 86' )
Substitutes
- 02 Shaughnessy
- 07 Zola
- 11 Hayes
- 17 Wylde
- 18 Low
- 20 Weaver
- 21 Magennis
St Mirren
- 28 Kello
- 22 Naismith
- 18 Kelly
- 10 McGowan
- 14 McAusland
- 04 McGregor
- 24 Newton
- 06 Goodwin
- 09 Thompson
- 11 McLean
- 07 McGinn (Harkins - 73' )
Substitutes
- 02 van Zanten
- 05 Mair
- 08 Harkins
- 16 Caprice
- 17 Reilly
- 27 Grainger
- 30 Dilo
No comments:
Post a Comment