Heart of Midlothian 1 - 0 Aberdeen

Battles' Late Goal at Tynecastle.

It is rather ironical that at the moment of their triumph in winning the Alliance League championship Aberdeen A should show an unexpected decline in the subsidiary Alliance Shield competition. Last Saturday they fell to Third Lanark A at Pittodrie, and Friday's defeat by Motherwell at Fir Park was followed by a third reverse at Tynecastle on Saturday. Bob McDermid, the reserves' mentor-in-chief, was the victim of a nasty accident, sustaining a broken nose.
Hearts showed two newcomers in the defence, while Aberdeen had one change, Anderson, of Aberdeen East End, for Jackson at back.
There was little of note in the opening exchanges, both attacking in turn. Hearts, however, forced a corner, which was well cleared by Cumming. A brief visit to the Hearts end saw Waugh clear a high ball from Warnock. A minute later, King cleared to midfield following a free kick near Hearts' goal.
McDermid came into collision with a player a scramble at midfield. and retired, and it was learned that "Bob" had sustained a fractured nose.
A foul for Hearts outside the Aberdeen penalty box brought no result. Cumming was on the spot and cleared. Then corner for Aberdeen proved fruitless. Just on half-time, Battles headed a difficult shot to the corner of the net, but Cumming again cleared in great style.

Strong Pressure.

On resuming the Aberdeen forward line made tracks for the Hearts' goal. They pressed severely, but all that came their way was a corner which Waugh cleared, and sent the home forwards to the other end.
Sharp repelled the Hearts with a hefty punt and another fruitless corner came Aberdeen's way. Both goals in turn underwent pressure and there were several narrow escapes, especially for Hearts when Warnock sent right across an empty goal.
At the Aberdeen end Smith grazed the crossbar with a fast drive.

The Winner.

The game was well fought out and not till ten minutes from time was there a change in the position.
A determined attack by the Hearts was followed by two corners, and then came a cross by Smith to Battles, who drove hard to beat the Aberdeen custodian, who made a really gallant attempt to save the centre's shot.
Aberdeen made a final rally, and just before the close Donald sent in a shot from a free kick which Waugh, the Hearts' custodian, misjudged, but Newman jumped in to clear on the line with his head.
Aberdeen just failed to equalise, and were unfortunate to lose both points.

Source: Press & Journal, 17th April 1933