A young Aberdeen side travelled to Gayfield to meet an Arbroath outfit buoyed by their recent 4-1 hammering of Ross County in the Betfred League Cup. New keeper Tomas Cerny made his first appearance for the Dons while Bruce Anderson and Dean Campbell, who were also on the bench for the Europa League clash with Burnley, both featured. Trialists Kristian Nowak and Morgan Brown both started the match.
A howling wind and heavy rain greeted the two sides as they took the field, a far cry from the conditions we have enjoyed over the summer months.
David Dangana had the first effort on goal after good work from Campbell and Anderson, but he dragged his shot wide. On 15 minutes a nice ball over the top from Morgan Brown almost sent Dangana free but centre back Little did well to snuff out the danger.
The Red Lichties fashioned their first chance on 18 minutes but McCord fired high over after a left-wing corner.
The Dons were awarded a spot kick in the 20th minute after Campbell was upended just inside the box and Anderson expertly stroked ball high into the keeper's left-hand corner to give the visitors the lead.
Brown incurred the wrath of the fans and referee Newlands after a poor challenge on Denholm and picked up a yellow card in the 25th minute.
Arbroath almost grabbed an equaliser two minutes later when Linn fired a great cross in from the left which just evaded the onrushing Denholm. McCord again tried his luck from distance, but a deflection took the ball out for a corner. From the flag-kick Hamilton powered a header off the bar and over - a let-off for Aberdeen.
The Dons then doubled their lead when Dangana raced clear on the right before squaring for Anderson to slot the ball home from six yards. From looking like drawing level, Arbroath found themselves two behind.
Cerny did well to block Hester when the striker looked to capitalise on a short back pass then Antoniazzi was crowded out in the home side's box as he tried to get a shot away. McCord was the second player boked four minutes from the break after a challenge in midfield.
Denholm had a chance to reduce the deficit just before the break, but he got too much elevation on his 25-yard free-kick and Cerny wasn't troubled.
Arbroath brought Whatley on for McCord as Aberdeen had the elements in their favour for the second half. The Dons took only three minutes to add to their lead, Bruce Anderson netting the rebound after an Antoniazzi shot had been blocked by Hill - a hat-trick for the young striker who was ruthless in front of goal.
Jack MacKenzie almost made it four on 52 minutes as he flashed a fine shot just wide. Finn Graham then became the game's third booking after clashing with Dean Campbell.
A lightning break from Ryan Harrington saw the ball shuttled left for Connor McLennan whose curled effort was just wide. Cerny then saved well from Denholm before Swankie and Graham departed to be replaced by Gold and Wallace on the hour mark.
Aberdeen's first change saw Ethan Ross take the place of McLennan. Cerny was again called into action to thwart Hester on two occasions as the home side tried to get on to the scoresheet.
Kader replaced Linn as the game went into its final quarter, Dean Campbell almost adding to the Dons' tally as his powerful drive flew just too high.
Hester had the ball in the net on 71 minutes, but an offside flag cut the home fans' celebrations short. Little was booked for a foul on Dangana then Miko Virtanen came on for Brown to make his first appearance of the new campaign after playing for Finland in the European Under 19 championships.
Lewis Duncan replaced Chris Antoniazzi in the Dons ranks just before referee Newlands booked Tomas Cerny for delaying taking a goal-kick. A rather petty and unnecessary decision from the referee.
A great save from Hill denied Anderson a fourth goal as the rain continued to sweep across Gayfield and the Dons saw the game out comfortably to set themselves up nicely for the Aberdeenshire Cup trip to Buckie Thistle on Tuesday.