High Flying Dons Undone By Resurgent Highlanders

Aberdeen failed to pick up three points at the weekend against an Inverness CT side who had won only a single game under new manager Hughes. Hughes' side though came to Pittodrie and more acquitted themselves and probably deserving to head back north with the victory. McInnes described the match as being "an off day" which it was. The Dons despite their pressure from set pieces, failed to create much in the way of clear cut chances, which was ultimately the main reason for the defeat. What makes the defeat worse to take was that the opportunity presented itself to get a bit of a gap between themselves and Motherwell, who went down three goals to nil in Glasgow.

Aberdeen started the better of the two sides and won their first corner of the afternoon after only five minutes. The ball was whipped in causing problems in the six yard box, but eventually Brill got his hands on the ball seeing the danger pass. Another surge forward from Aberdeen saw them slightly light at the back which almost proved costly. Tate crossed in a ball to the Caley box but it was cleared and the visitors broke. The ball was worked wide to Doran who whipped in a brilliant ball which almost found McKay. Luckily for the Dons  the in form striker couldn't get the ball under control and it bobbled past Langfield's goal to safety.

Considine was making his first start since his return from injury and it was he who was the next to cause problems at the back for Inverness CT. He chipped in a ball just in front of the group of players in the box. This caused confusion and Raven's innocuous clearance went behind for another corner. Then very much against the run of play the visiting team took the lead. Once again Doran found himself in a wide position and another good ball was aimed at Billy McKay in the centre of the box. The striker failed to take the ball into his feet but instead helped it on to the lurking Williams at the back post. One touch to control and then smashed the ball high above Langfield and in off the bar. A good finish but on the balance of play undeserved. Despite the set back for the home supporters, moments later they all rose to their feet to take part in the minutes applause in the 26th minute to commemorate life long Dons fan Cammy Smith who sadly lost his battle against Leukeamia earlier this year. A nice touch from the club and fans.

Inverness CT now had the game by the scruff of the neck and were hunting for their second. On the 27th minute Doran was played through on goal and struck low and hard at Langfield who made a decent stop to deny the Caley player. A vital save as if the ball had squirmed under the keepers grasp it would have been an uphill struggle from there on in. Williams soon then should have doubled their lead after neat play by Williams down Inverness' left wing. Williams rolled the ball across the face of goal, but the stretching McKay just couldn't get there in time to poke home. The Dons were looking shaky at the back perhaps due to the fact it was a back four of four centre half's. However this is an area that Aberdeen have strengthened this season and the goals into Langfield have dried up. Today however it looked a different matter. Langfield made another decent save from a driven shot to keep his team in it.

Aberdeen continues the second half as how they ended the first. Poorly. The Dons were really struggling to get anything going and their slow start was almost costly as Inverness had a real good opportunity to burst the net. Credit to Reynolds though for making a good block from McKay's shot. Finally Aberdeen managed to fashion a chance on the hour mark. New signing Alan Tate delivered a brilliant cross to pick out Anderson who rose well, but his effort flew over the bar. At least it was something for the home fans to shout about. It was Willo Flood who then got the crowd to their feet ten minutes later. He had produced a show stopping strike last week to win the game for the Dons and it looked he had pulled it out the bag again. He caught the ball well at the edge of the box on the volley, and it looked to be dipping into Brill's goal, but the Caley keeper produced an excellent save to keep the visitors ahead. To be honest it was Aberdeen's best effort at achieving a goal.

The Dons then seemed to resign to their fate for the remainder of the match and became careless in the middle of the park. Shinnie struck the post after Flood was pick pocketed in his own half. The only other note worthy effort from Aberdeen was McGinn's free kick which hit the side netting.

FT: Aberdeen 0-1 Inverness CT

Aberdeen

• 01 Langfield
• 28 Tate (Shaughnessy - 58' Booked )
• 05 Considine
• 22 Jack
• 04 Anderson
• 06 Reynolds
• 16 Pawlett
• 08 Flood
• 09 Vernon (Magennis - 65' )
• 15 Robson (Hayes - 59' )
• 10 McGinn

Substitutes

• 02 Shaughnessy
• 07 Zola
• 11 Hayes
• 14 Smith
• 21 Magennis
• 26 Storie
• 30 Rogers

Inverness Caledonian Thistle

• 12 Brill
• 02 Raven
• 18 Tremarco Booked
• 03 Shinnie
• 06 Meekings
• 14 Devine
• 10 Doran (Tansey - 65' )
• 19 Williams
• 07 McKay (Evans - 88' )
• 11 Ross (Vincent - 75' )
• 20 Polworth Booked

Substitutes

• 01 Esson
• 04 Vincent
• 16 Tansey
• 17 Greenhalgh
• 21 Pepper
• 36 Christie
• 40 Evans