Aberdeen 2 - 2 Queens Park

Aberdeen autumn holiday match at Pittodrie Park yesterday before over 14,000 spectators. Aberdeen throughout manifested superiority, and at half-time led by one goal to nothing, the scorer, four minutes from the interval, being Thomson. Grossert failed with a penalty kick in the second half, but another penalty, due to Thom fisting the ball at close quarters, was more successful, Fisher scoring. C. Scott scored Queen's Park's first goal, and the equaliser came as a bit of a surprise two minutes from the close of the game, when Sutherland, Aberdeen's goalkeeper, allowed a shot to slip past him from a free kick about forty yards out.

The Scotsman, 28th September 1920

After having had much the better of the exchanges in their Scottish League match with Queen's Park at Pittodrie yesterday, Aberdeen had to be content with a division of the points, each side scoring twice. There were 14,000 spectators, and these saw a game in which the interest lagged, even although there were many exciting passages. For a good three-fourths of the game, Aberdeen easily held the upper-hand, but they were woefully weak at close quarters. It was a last-minute goal that enabled the Amateurs to finish on level terms when a mistake by Sutherland, the home goalkeeper, let the visitors count, but by that time Aberdeen ought to have had game well won on the chances they had. Queen's Park found it much easier to get their point than Rangers had on Saturday, and on play they scarcely merited a draw, the result was their reward for a plucky display against odds.
The play was keen, and a tendency to over-robustness on the part of both defences led to many stoppages for injuries. Just before the interval, Robertson, the visitor's left-winger, had his shoulder hurt after violent contact with Hutton, and was unable to resume in the second half. The Amateurs were further handicapped in the period by the temporary absence of Fyfe. their centre-forward. The Aberdeen players did not escape scatheless, and at different times Fisher, Thomson, and Hutton required attention.

Missed Chances.

The first half was far from being barren of incident, and both goals had narrowly escaped downfall before Fisher opened the scoring four minutes from the interval after good work by Wright, and Thomson. Both sets of forwards had previously made light of the defence until they got within scoring range, but they finished weakly, and in the case of Aberdeen Ritchie repeatedly nullified clever work by Rankine by knocking the ball against defenders, and Fisher frequently failed to improve upon up-the-centre passes by the inside left. On one occasion the Amateurs came near to scoring when Fyfe made to slip the ball into the corner of the net, but Sutherland at full length effected a brilliant save. At another time Hutton completely missed his kick in front of goal, but McAlpine, from inside the goal area, shot wildly. The Amateurs' goalkeeper was not without his anxious moments, and after Weir had missed badly, Gould had a brilliant save at the foot of the upright from Yule. The keeper was none too sure in his gathering of the ball, but by blocking and following up, he got himself out of a number of difficult situations. He had one particularly fine save from Fisher, who at another period was unfortunate in just failing to score with a great left foot drive which missed narrowly, with the goalkeeper not in a position to save. Fyfe on one occasion got past the Aberdeen defence, but a momentary halt on his part allowed them to recover, and Hutton cleared. Close on the interval, and just after Aberdeen had scored, Fyfe got offside, and robbed Queen's Park of a great chance to equalise after clever play by McAlpine.

Two Penalty Kicks. Handicapped as they were, Queen's Park had much the worse of the exchanges in the second half, when chances galore came the way of Aberdeen, but a lack of steadiness at close quarters and a tendency to overdo a rather imperfect close-passing game nullified their efforts. The Queen's Park goal figured in any number of hairbreadth escapes, and indeed at times Gould's charge almost seemed to have a charmed immunity from disaster, but, when all is said, the poverty of goals was solely due to the ineptitude of the home attack. Three times in quick succession in the period Ritchie found himself in scoring position, but on each occasion banged wildly past. He was not the only failure in this respect. Short-handed, the visitors' attack was disjointed, but they never lost the opportunity to make good even if they did not get within scoring range. It was in keeping with the nature of Aberdeen s finishing efforts that when a penalty was awarded against Gillespie for " hands," Aberdeen failed to score. A. R. Grosert sending wide. There was a period when the ball crossed and recrossed the visitors' goalmouth to be missed by attackers and defenders alike. Gould saved a raking drive by Milne in clever style, and Rankine was responsible for one of the best shots of the game, which went just high. Fisher scratched his head on one occasion when, after outracing the defence, he sent nearer the corner flag than the goal, but later nearly made amends when, accepting a deft pass by Thomson, he brought Gould to his knees. After several flag kicks, and more escapes of the amateurs' goal, Thom handled in the penalty area, and from the resultant award Fisher made no mistake.

Long Shot that Counted.

At this stage the game appeared won by Aberdeen, but practically from their first clear run up the field, Queen's Park scored, taking advantage of slackness on the part of Hutton and Forsyth. Following upon this, Sutherland had a splendid save from a terrific long range shot by Fyfe. Then the amateurs' goal had yet another escape. Gould left his charge to shoulder Fisher off a ball that was going behind, but the forward gained possession and centred, and although the ball hovered in front goal. Aberdeen could not apply the finishing touch. With but two minutes go, Queen's Park equalised in dramatic fashion. They were awarded a free kick fully 40 yards out, and Gillespie, taking advantage of the wind, drove straight for goal. Sutherland, in attempting to knock the pall down, misjudged, and it struck the tips of his fingers to go over his head into the net, and for the second successive game a misjudgement by the goalkeeper near the end the game was the actual medium by which a visiting team secured a point from Aberdeen after appearing to have been doomed to defeat.

Individual Form.

Of the regular Aberdeen team, Anderson, Hannah, Robertson, and Middleton were unavoidably absent owing to injuries, and the changes weakened the side. Sutherland, whose first appearance it was in the league team, obviously suffered from nervousness, and while he was badly at fault with the second goal, his skill was evident from the clever way in which he saved what appeared to be certain counting shots by Fyfe. Good at times, Hutton was unreliable; and Forsyth was much the better back. Wright, Milne, and A. Grosert did well in the half line. Rankine was easily the best of the forwards. As on Saturday, he opened out the play finely, but none of the others exactly hit their game. Fisher was clever enough in the centre, but lost too many chances, despite his having two goals to his credit. Thomson came away well in the second half, but did not beat or draw his men with his usual facility. Yule, although much in the limelight, was only a partial success, and was frequently at fault with his parting; while Ritchie, who was brilliant at Brechin on Saturday, was palpably off his game.
Queen's Park would be elated over their draw, but it can be said they never lay down, even with the tide going heavily, against them. Gould did not give an impressive display in goal, but could do little wrong. Struthers was the safer back, but Weir made up a partnership that never wavered, despite the great amount of work that came their way. At half-back the amateurs were splendidly served by Gillespie and Thom, and their best forwards were McAlpine and Fyfe, but the line was disorganised in the second half by the absence of Robertson.

Source: Aberdeen Daily Journal, 27th September 1920