Aberdeen 2 - 2 Celtic

Terrific Struggle With Celtic.

Aberdeen and Celtic have never had a more thrilling struggle than marked their encounter at Pittodrie on Saturday, when they divided four goals.
Heavy rain in the forenoon and before the start affected the attendance, but there were about 15,000 present, and the pitch was soft and greasy.
In a rousing struggle, Aberdeen had the better of the exchanges in the first half, and really deserved to be more than one goal ahead at the interval. In the second half there was greater equality, but Celtic had superiorly in respect of team work, and their half-backs and forwards co-operated better than those of Aberdeen. On the whole, the result did justice to both teams, who served up a delightfully refreshing display and maintained a surprising pace from start to finish.

Few Failures.

There was scarcely a failure on either side. For Aberdeen, Jackson, Livingstone, Black, and McLaren were splendid in defence, and in a a sprightly and dangerous attack the successes were McDermid, Love, and Cheyne.
A feature of the game was the wonderful saving in the first half by Thomson, the Celtic goalkeeper. His work earned him round upon round of applause. McStey (W.), McGonnigle, and McFarlane were the pick of the Celtic defence, and in attack the most prominent were Connolly, Riley, and McCallum.
Equality marked the opening, but Aberdeen assumed the offensive, and after McDermid had been dispossessed in the act of shooting Cheyne sent wide with the Celtic goalkeeper at full length. Keeping up the attack, the home forwards gave the Glasgow defence a gruelling time, and it was only desperate tacking which saved the situation. Cheyne was wide with another shot, and Black from long range was also off the mark.
Ten minutes had gone before Celtic made their first real attack, when McCallum shot behind after tricking Jackson.

Brilliant Goalkeeping.

In another Aberdeen attack McDerrnid had a terrific shot brilliantly saved by Thomson. Celtic retaliated by forcing a corner, but this was cleared, and returned for Smith to sweep in a lightning shot which the Glasgow goalkeeper saved in masterly style. Subsequently the ball travelled at a great pace from end to end. Gray hooked in an overhead shot which Yuill just gathered close to the crossbar. Another corner fell to Celtic, and following its being cleared Love raced away to finish with a great shot that passed inches high of the Celtic goal.
A free kick against McLaren had the Aberdeen goal in danger, but Gray's shot was charged down, and subsequently Yuill fisted clear from a flag kick. A cross by Love was fielded by Thomson, and at the other end Yuill saved from Wilson.

Aberdeen on the Lead.

After half an hour Aberdeen took the lead. Love raced away to cross the ball at speed, and after several players had missed it Smith caught on to send in a fierce shot for the ball to strike W. McStey and glance into the net.
A terrific duel followed this success. A shot by Black was fisted over by Thomson, and two corners for Aberdeen were cleared with difficulty. Connolly had Yuill in action, and at Thomson's end Yorston headed against the post. Again the ball was sent in, and the Celtic 'keeper effected a wonderful acrobatic save. He was repeatedly in action, and his work earned the plaudits of the spectators. Towards the interval Celtic were attacking, and Yuill fisted over the bar from Connolly. On the run of play Aberdeen deserved be on the lead.

Exciting Passages.

The game was resumed at great pace. Love sent behind after a brisk Aberdeen attack, and following a free kick against W. McStey, Thomson twice had to run out and clear. A grim struggle developed with the Celtic half-backs and forwards taking a more prominent part. McCallum forced a corner for Yuill to save from the flag kick, and McGonnigle worked forward to send in a fierce shot that just missed the home goal. McFarlane followed with rather fine try. The Aberdeen defence survived this trying period, and in a series of attacks by the home forwards, several shots were blocked in front of the Celtic goal.
Yorston went close with a fine shot on the run, and Smith when unmarked, sent against the outside of the net.

Home Disaster.

After 25 minutes Celtic drew level. McCallum sent over a ground pass and McDermid who had been back assisting his defence, accidentally deflected the ball past Yuill. Aberdeen attacked desperately after this, but a few minutes later they fell info arrears. Connolly, lying near the corner of the penalty area, found himself in possession and swept in a tremendous cross shot, Yuill getting his hands to the ball but failing to prevent it from entering the net.

Dramatic Equaliser.

More thrills followed. Aberdeen went all out on attack and following a corner, forced by Love, the ball was first sent against the Celtic cross bar and then against the post.
In the height of the excitement the referee awarded a penalty kick to Aberdeen, it having transpired that a Celtic player had handled just before the ball struck the post. Love, who took the spot kick, simply crashed the ball into the net. In the last minute both goals were visited, but there was no further scoring in an exciting encounter.

Source: Press & Journal, 12th November 1928