Aberdeen 1 - 0 Hamilton

Aberdeen made it seven wins of out of seven tonight at Pittodrie but Hamilton made the Dons work extremely hard for the three points.

The Accies, who to their credit came and had a go this evening and played well, started brightly but then the Dons played some decent football and were rewarded when Shinnie won a penalty on 23 minutes. Rooney took and it and scored his sixth goal in seven games. Aberdeen continued to play some good football and in the second half McGovern produced an outstanding save to keep out a Rooney header. After that the visitors, who battled extremely well throughout, started to grow in confidence and force the Dons back.

Niall McGinn almost grabbed a second but his effort hit the bar. Still the Accies pushed hard for an equaliser and when Ash Taylor had to go off for stitches after a clash with centre half Lucas Tagliapietra it meant the Dons had to play the final five minutes or so with ten men as all the substitutions had been made.

Adam Rooney had to go back and play in central defence and on two occasions did brilliantly to prevent goal scoring opportunities. Josh Parker on the break missed a chance to make the game safe in injury time. The last three minutes were extremely nerve wrecking as Tagliapietra posed a real threat in the air but Danny Ward came well off his line and made some excellent catches.

All teams have to win ugly now and again and this was one of those occasions.

RedWeb | the manager's post match quotes please Derek McInnes gave Ryan McLaughlin his Aberdeen debut this evening. He came into the side at right back and Willo Flood also came back into the starting XI. In a 4-2-3-1 formation it was McLaughlin, Taylor, Considine and Shinnie at the back. Jack and Flood were the sitting midfielders with McGinn, McLean and Hayes ahead of them. Rooney was up front.

Hamilton made a bright start. On 3 minutes a misplaced pass from McLean was picked up by the visitors and Christian Nade had a chance. His shot was deflected behind for the first corner of the night. Accies have a good physical presence and were going to be a threat from set-pieces but on this occasion the Dons eventually managed to clear their lines. Many expected the Lanarkshire side to come and defend but to their credit they were pushing the full-backs high up the park.

On 9 minutes a poor pass from Taylor put the defence under pressure but Ali Crawford had a shot from distance when he could have driven on. Crawford once again impressed this evening. After 13 minutes Shinnie won the Dons a free kick in a promising position. Hayes ball in though went over the head of Taylor.

A minute later a Hayes early ball in was picked up by McGinn at the back of the area. Niall turned his man and his low cross looked dangerous but no red jersey made a run to the near post. Great play by McLean set up Hayes again and the winger comfortably got to the by-line. This time he tried to cut the ball back but again there were no takers.

On 18 minutes a McGinn free kick was on target and McGovern did well to get across his goal and push the ball behind.

The resulting corner was worked to Hayes. His ball in was just too high for Rooney but attempting to go for it he took the ball off the head of Taylor. Then McGinn had a chance when he beat Kurakins but instead of shooting with his left foot he tried to get the ball back onto his right peg and the left back was able to recover.

Then on 22 minutes Aberdeen's pressure was to be rewarded when Shinnie was taken down by Ziggy Gordon inside the area. It was as clear as penalty as you will see and some of Gordon's team mates were not impressed with his rash tackle as like on Saturday Shinnie was near the by-line and there was no need to jump in.

Rooney took it and placed the ball to the keepers right. McGovern guessed correctly but the ball was right in the corner and the Northern Ireland internationalist had no chance.

Minutes later Hamilton thought they had won a penalty. Kurtaj played a square pass to Imrie who burst into the box. When the Hamilton man went down in the area referee Crawford Allan took his time to have a think but instead of pointing to the spot he booked Imrie for diving.
On 28 minutes McLean knocked the ball down to Rooney and his half volley was on target but straight at the keeper. The Dons really were playing some good football at this stage of the game. Their movement and pace was outstanding and they were threatening to overrun Hamilton at times.

On 33 minutes Hamilton were forced to make a change when Darian MacKinnon went off injured. He was replaced by Greg Docherty. On 35 minutes Gillespie hit a great volley which flew just past the post. On 37 minutes another Hayes cross picked out McLean. Although the cross was just lobbed up Kenny powered in a fine header with a lot of pace on the ball but McGovern was well positioned.

Credit to Hamilton who finished the half with some good possession.

The Dons came out of the traps well at the start of the second half. They forced a couple of corners and McLean put McGinn in but Niall was just ruled offside. On 54 minutes another free kick in a promising position but McGinn's ball just went over the head of Taylor.

Although Aberdeen were still playing some good football the visitors were still in this game and the impressive Ali Crawford had a couple of half chances.

Just before the hour mark McGovern made a world class save. Jack and Shinnie worked it brilliantly down the left. Jack chipped the ball in for Rooney and from about eight yards out his header looked to be going in but the keeper instinctively stuck out an arm and managed to turn the ball over the bar.

The save seemed to inspire his team mates.

A bit of slackness then came into the Dons play. Hamilton took a bit of encouragement that the Dons had failed to get the second goal and started the come back into the match. The game also then became quite stretched.
On 65 minutes Kurtaj was allowed to get a shot on target from the edge of the area. Ward seemed to have it covered but a slight deflection off Taylor took it past him and thankfully the ball rolled just past the post. There was now a lot of tension around the ground as the Accies confidence grew. Hamilton were winning a few free kicks in deep areas. However with Lucas Tagliapietra a real handful in the air, the Dons defence were having to work extremely hard to deal with him.

On 72 minutes Derek McInnes decided it was time for a double change. Parker came on for Hayes and Logan replaced McLaughlin. With 15 minutes to go the Dons almost grabbed a second. Parker's cross was nodded down to McGinn and his first time effort beat McGovern but the ball crashed off the bar.

With 9 minutes to go McLean was replaced by Pawlett.

Then Parker should have made it 2-0. McGinn made a great tackle and then Flood spotted acres of space in behind the Hamilton backline. He played the long ball which put Parker clear. Josh took a good first touch but McGovern was out very quickly and was able to make a block. A few minutes later Pawlett had a chance from the break but just moved quickly and was caught offside.

The big centre half Tagliapietra was now playing upfront and with five minutes to go he clashed with Taylor. Ash came off worse and had to go off for stitches. Aberdeen had a problem as three subs were on so Derek McInnes pushed Adam Rooney into central defence and every red shirt tried to protect him.
It really was a very nervous last few minutes as Hamilton threw the ball into the box. Kurtaj was allowed to get a shot on target which Ward saved easily. Rooney was doing extremely well and he made one vital interception. There was three minutes of stoppage time - things became even more nervous as the Dons could not get hold of the ball. The ball kept coming into the box but Danny Ward did brilliantly to come well off his line and claim a couple of catches.

The final whistle was greeted with the biggest cheer of the night.