The Aberdeen 2 - 1 Orion

On Saturday afternoon at Pittodrie Park, the Aberdeen and Orion teams met in the first round of the Aberdeenshire Cup in front of a large turnout of spctators. The weather was all that could be desired, but the ground, owing to the hard frost, was rather slippery. The teams were:- Aberdeen: Bisset; O'Brien, Dakers; J. Mackie, Thomson, Robertson; Gray, C. Mackie, Livingstone, Davidson, Fullerton. Orion: Ritchie; Willox, Ross; Currie, Campbell, Esplin; J. Thomson, Prophet, Low, Brebner, Massie. Mr. J. McKay, Glasgow, was referee.

Orion won the toss, and Aberdeen kicked off towards the sea. The game early became fast, both goals being visited in rapid succession. From midfield the "whites" by good passing tactics, got into close quarters, and C. Mackie opened the scoring with a beautiful shot. Nettled at this early reverse, the "stripes" woke up and played with great determination, but they seldom got past the Aberdeen defence. Owing to the slippery condition of the ground, the players found considerable difficulty in keeping their feet. Thomson, the Orions outside right, presented Low with a fine pass, but thelatter, with only Bisset to beat, shot past.

On resuming, Aberdeen at once assumed the aggressive, but Livingstone shot strongly past. Orion had now a look in, but Low missed a fine chance. O'Brien and Dakers at back for Aberdeen, were in excellent form, their punting being a feature of the game. Thomson was the best in the Orion's front line, while Mssie was repeatedly pulled up for lying offside. The Aberdeen forwards no showed superior play, and in the midst of an exciting scrimmage in front of Ritchie, Fullerton placed his side two goals up. This was the means of arousing the Orion, and they now played with great dash. In their eagerness to score, however, they blundered, and on more than one occasion threw away several likely chances. Once more Aberdeen took up the running, and their forwards kept up the pressure, and ultimately Fullerton again scored, but for some reason the referee disallowed the point. Towards the close Orion showed a great improvement in their play, and from a scrimmage in front of the Aberdeen goal, Prophet shot strongly past Bisset just before time was sounded. A stiffly-contested game ended in a win for the Pittodrie team.

Source: Aberdeen Journal, 25th November 1901