Airdrie 2 - 0 Aberdeen

Aberdeen were well beaten in the first half of the game at Airdrie. Their attack was completely held, their defence had a hard time holding the tricky and fast Airdrie forwards. The first goal fell to Hart as the result of a free kick, which glanced into the net off the far post. Weir secured the second after a bit of brilliant passing and crossing in front of Anderson. The second half was a more even affair, and both defences stood up powerfully, so that no goals were scored. All through, however, Airdrie were the cleverer side, and won on their merits.

Source: The Scotsman, 29th December 1919

By 2 goals to 0, Aberdeen succumbed to Airdrieonians at Airdrie. There were scarcely 4000 spectators, and the match was played on a pitch which was far from being ideal for football. After the heavy rains the ground was sodden in parts, and there were pools of water in some places, while sand had to be put down in the vicinity of the goals to improve the footing. Under the circumstances, the play at times was erratic, but the game was always strenuous and not uninteresting to watch. At the end the players presented a rather bedraggled appearance, especially those of them who had made frequent contact with the mud. On the whole of the teams were well matched, each side holding a slight superiority in turn, and, let it be said, Aberdeen were unfortunate to have succumbed by such a margin. There were no passengers on either side, and all departments of both teams contributed to the strenuousness of a game which provided a stiff physical test. Airdrieonians won because they held the advantage in the attack, where their forwards were better able to combat the wretched ground conditions than the northern players were. At times both vanguards served up bright passages of football, but on the move there was a nip in the Airdrie attack that was absent from that of the Pittodrie line.

A Soft Goal

The Airdrieonians got the first goal and easy fashion after 15 minutes had gone. The home inside left was brought down by a Wright some distance out, and from the free-kick Hart scored rather unexpectedly. He loved the ball obliquely into goal and it passed into the net quite close to the upright, Aberdeen's defence being evidently under the impression that the ball would go past. That goal was probably the deciding factor in the game. Airdrieonians played with greater confidence after that, and after 35 minutes following upon some exciting play in front of the Aberdeen goal, Weir scored from close range. That finish the scoring, and with the exception of Anderson, the Aberdeen defence, which up to that stage had been less sure than usual, recovered, and both goals were well visited.
As the result partly indicates, the Aberdeen forwards were still a long way behind what supporters of the club would like, but there is no doubt about this that the inclusion of Willie Wylie made for improvement and a big improvement at that. On this occasion Aberdeen stock up against the Airdrie defence at its best, and under the wretched ground conditions, any other visiting team would have been as likely to share the same fate as Aberdeen. Aberdeen were best served by Anderson, Hannah, Brewster, MacLachlan, Wylie, and Connon, and Airdrieonians by Macdonald, Hart, J. Reid, A. Reid, and Ellis.

Source: Aberdeen Daily Journal, 29th December 1919