Aberdeen played second division new boys Exeter City B in the last 16 of the APFSCIL cup at Chiswick on Sunday. Exeter are struggling in Div 2 in their debut season and were always likely to be up against it in this one. Manager Sharp rang the changes with Morrison, R.Cairns and the returning Rennie all in the squad.

The game kicked off in soggy conditions and there was a strong wind but the pitch wasn't in too bad shape considering. Aberdeen opened on the offensive and this pretty much set the tone for the entire match. A header from a corner went close but the goal was on its way. It came from Aubrey who received a layoff in the box from Cairns and finished low in the bottom corner, 1-0.

The second goal followed within a couple of minutes, a Bryan Ritchie special long throw wasn't dealt with properly by the home defence, the centre half was only able to head it up in the air and Stewart who was lurking at the back edge of the six yard box crashed home the volley for 2-0. The long throw worked well so when the opportunity arose again 5 minutes later Ritchie again launched one in to the six yard box, Morrison got in front of his marker and headed powerfully home, 3-0 and game effectively over in the first 15 minutes.

Aberdeen did their best to get the ball down and play but the wind was playing havoc with the ball. The next goal came from the penalty spot. Some good passing saw Rand find Reid in the centre, a dinked pass in to Morrison left the midfielder with plenty of room, he in turn played in Cairns who held it up and laid it back to Aubrey, the forward nipped the ball away from a defender and was tripped, penalty. Up stepped Rand and hammered the ball past the keeper for 4-0.

The fifth was another from Stewart who is scoring for fun this season. Aubrey played Cairns in down the right, Cairns hit a low drive across the keeper who could only parry straight in to the path of Stewart who from a tight angle drilled home the fifth and his second of the afternoon. Next up Exeter added to their own woes with a classic own goal. The keeper raced out and the Exeter defender opted to clear with Aubrey in attendance, unfortunately his looping clearance floated high in the air and dropped just inside the post, 6-0 at half time.

A leisurely half time team talk for the Dons with the emphasis on getting the ball on the ground more was countered by an astounding rant by the Exeter boss. Despite their team being bottom of the Div 2 and the Dons top of Div 1 he branded them a disgrace, bit harsh I'd say.

Aberdeen continued to dominate and Callum Stewart completed his hat-trick. Ritchie burst in to the box and drilled a cross to the back post, for the tenth time this season Stewart appeared to hammer the ball home, 7-0. Scotty Reid made it eight or it might have been seven with Callum getting the eighth, it was getting hard to keep count! The ball was passed to Reid on the edge of the box and his sweetly hit left foot drive headed towards the top corner, the keeper got a hand to it, pushed it on to the bar only for it to come down and hit him on the head and end up in the net, 8-0(I think).

Then it happened, after 4 years of trying, centre half Ian Duguid finally scored his first ever Rob Roy Reds goal. Now Ian is a defender first and foremost and a very disciplined one, he was ploughing the left hand side of a defensive three on Sunday and sticks to his task week in week out. So after Stewart's bullet header was blocked from a corner the last person anyone expected to appear on the right hand side of the box was Duguid, and the last thing Duguid himself probably expected was to catch the ball on the half volley from the angle of the box and smash it high past the keeper in to the far corner of the net, 9-0 and an absolute peach for Duguid's first RRR goal.

That was the end of the scoring although plenty more chances were created, Cairn's particularly unlucky not to score. It ended 9-0 and the Dons trouped off happy with the result and looking forward to the cup quarter final and the big league game against Rangers next Sunday.

MOM - Lots of good play in this one, Aubrey put in a great shift up front as did Ritchie and Reid in the centre of the park The defence as always was rock solid, poor Smollet was absolutely freezing when he came off after possibly his easiest ever RRR match. The award this week goes to midfield goal scoring machine Stewart, another hat-trick and 10 for the season, after getting 0 last season his goal scoring form is an unexpected bonus for the Dons and long may in continue.

Team - Smollet, Stewart, Rand, Ritchie, Gunn, Duguid, Davidson, Morrison, Reid, R.Cairns, Aubrey

Subs - Rooney, Rennie, Urquhart