The Aberdeen 2 - 1 Forfar Athletic

At Pittodrie Park on Saturday afternoon the Aberdeen and Forfar Athletic teams met in a Northern League fixture. The weather was cols and the attendance was the smallest that has been seen in a Northern League match for many a day. The teams were:- Aberdeen; Ritchie; Brodie, Ross; Sangster, Thomson, Robertson; McKay, C. Mackie, Murphy, Buchan, Paterson. Forfar Athletic: Mitchell; Scott, Gibb; Rea, Jance, McFarlane; Petrie, Thomson, Hay, Cowie, Neave. Mr. Baillie, St Bernards, Edinburgh, was referee.

Aberdeen won the toss, and Forfar kicked-off towards the city. The homesters at once assumed the aggressive, and the visitors were kept defending their charge for a few minutes. A break away by the Forfar left wing looked promising, but Brodie cleared in fine style. Two corners next fell to Aberdeen, but they both proved fruitless. End-to-end play followed, but the display of both teams was considerably below par. Corner after corner was forced by the Whites, but they failed to take advantage of their opportunities. A blunder on the part of the home backs let Hay in, but he shot high over an open goal. It was Aberdeen's turn next, and Paterson, taking advantage of a glorious chance, opened the scoring with a fine shot. Forfar, on resuming, immediately equalised through Cowie, and the scores at half-time were: Aberdeen 1, Forfar Athletic 1.

On restarting, Forfar rushed the ball down the field, but Neave shot over. Aberdeen had next a try for goal, and Mitchell had to handle twice in quick succession. After a spell of desultory play, McKay had a splendid individual run almost the whole length of the field. Getting past the backs, he passed the ball across the field in fine style to C. Mackie, who had no difficulty in finding the net. Aberdeen now monopolised the play, and C. Mackie scored again, but the referee ruled the point offside. Paterson also scored an offside goal for Aberdeen. Throughout the period of the game the Forfar custodian distinguished himself by his fine saving powers, and saved his side repeatedly. No further scoring took place, and a rather poor game ended in favour of the Pittodrie team.

Source: Aberdeen Journal, 15th September 1902