Aberdeen 1 - 1 Kilmarnock

Aberdeen and Kilmarnock, with a draw of one goal each in the match at Pittodrie Park, did not give satisfaction to a crowd of over 8000 spectators who had a feeling that when the local team had beaten the Scottish Cup holders at Kilmarnock another victory should have been obtained when the home players had ground advantage. The Aberdeen players had the greater Amount of the pressure, but missed many chances at close quarters, and the old complaint of lack of opportunism was evident throughout. On play, they ought to have had three or more goals. Kilmarnock put up a strong defence, with Hillcoat, Gibson, Shortt, and Goldie prominent, while in the forward line the two Smiths were outstanding. For Aberdeen, the backs, Hutton and Hannah, and also A. R. Grosert, played not only a good defensive game, but kept the forwards well supplied with the ball, and were assisted by the right wing pair of forwards, Middleton and Connon.

Source: The Scotsman, 14th March 1921

"Unfortunate" is a stereotyped word as far Aberdeen is concerned, but it cannot quite be scrapped from the football vocabulary, because, with most monotonous frequency, it continues to truthfully describe the efforts the Pittodrie team, especially in their home matches. After having had much the better of the encounter in respect that they made the pace throughout, and accounted for the bulk of the pressure, the team had to be content to divide two goals with Kilmarnock on Saturday in their return Scottish League match. It was quite an interesting encounter, with most of the excitement served up in the vicinity of the visitors' goal, which repeatedly had the narrowest of escapes, but to the home club's supporters it was disappointing, because their team failed to win after holding a big advantage in play. On both sides the, defensive play was good, but with few exceptions it cannot be said that the forwards were out of the common.
The failure lay with the inside men on both sides. At times they were seen to advantage in slipping an opponent to let their wingers away, but inside play does not stop there, and there was an absence of that craftiness which draws a defence to let a colleague at close quarters get possession in a likely scoring position. When an inside forward parts, he should endeavour to let the receiver of his pass hold an advantage over the opposing defence. This did not often happen on Saturday, and it was in this more than anything else that the Aberdeen inside men failed in their mission. While all credit is due the Kilmarnock rear divisions for their fine defence, Aberdeen simply played into their hands by failing to keep the bail on the floor, but even when it was swung in with great accuracy from the wings, they showed once again that they lacked clinching ability.

A Penalty Goal.

Both goals were scored in the second half. Four minutes after the resumption Middleton, while through, was brought down while dribbling through the penalty area, and Hutton gave Aberdeen the lead from the 12 yards mark. Kilmarnock were not long in arrears, as only five minutes had gone when, following a free kick, McPhail crossed accurately for M. Smith to equalise from close range. Aberdeen attacked afterwards, and while the forwards had lots of tries, the best attempts at scoring came from Wright and Hutton. The centre-half's shot was tipped against the crossbar by Hillcoat, and after rebounding on to the back of his head the ball went behind. The Aberdeen goal had an equally narrow escape, when, despite an appeal for offside. J. R. Smith was allowed to go through. He was left with only Anderson to beat, but, with the goalkeeper drawn out of his charge, the visiting forward tapped the ball wide of the goal.

About the Players.

Anderson did not have much do, and Hutton's display was ahead of Hannah's at back. In a clever half-back line, A. R. Grosert and Wright were always prominent, but as a worker MacLachlan lost nothing in comparison. It was not the defence that failed. Middleton and Connon carried off the forward honours. Both had splendid tries for goal, a grounder of Connon's in the first half being worthy of better fate than a negative result. Had the other forwards been up to the standard of the right-wing pair the match must have been won. Mackie was not seen to such advantage as in his two earlier trials, and if he distributed play well was room for considerable improvement in his close-range work. Thomson, left, was not as effective as his predecessor, Rankine, and ever allowing that he got too little of the ball for a considerable period of the game, and was responsible for the serving up of one or two bright passages. Flanaghan has been seen to better advantage.
Hillcoat nearly fisted through his own goal in the first half, but he did well later, and had a big share of credit by the result. Gibson was always a sure back, but had a useful young partner in Murray, who promises to fill Hamilton's shoes well. The halfback honours went to Shortt and Goldie, especially the first named, upon whose head many fine centres from the Aberdeen wingers were wasted. The Rugby Park forwards were patchy, and the best were the two Smiths. The centre-forward was a great trier, but was badly supported, and of the two wingers McNaught was the smarter, although the goal came from the other wing.
The attendance at the match only mustered about 8000, accounted for to some extent by the coldness of the weather, but more to the only moderate success attained by the home team in recent outings.

Source: Aberdeen Daily Journal 14th March 1921