Heart of Midlothian 1 - 3 Aberdeen

Aberdeen Under 18s returned to winning ways in Edinburgh on Tuesday afternoon after three first half goals sent them on their way to victory against Heart of Midlothian, putting an end to a difficult run of form for the young side.

With Blair McKenzie suspended for the trip to the capital head coach Scott Anderson was forced into shuffling his defensive pack: Jamie Mercer and Timi Fatona came in, and Cammy Wilson retuned from his own suspension to take up a spot on the bench, alongside 2008 born Lewis Carrol.

Aberdeen drew first blood just two minutes into the encounter after Adam Emslie was alert and on hand to allow him to latch onto a slack back pass from Matthew Gilles. Although he was gifted the ball, Adam still had to supply a calm finish and the young forward done exactly that, sliding the ball into the bottom corner.
Within the opening ten minutes Hearts found an equaliser, Bobby Mcluckie managed to find space at the edge of the box and squeeze the ball into the Young Dons' six-yard box, where Ryan Duncan managed to force the ball past Rodrigo Vitols and into the back of the net.
Both sides posed a threat every time they advanced forward: Alfie Bavidge rounded Scott Cowie as he raced through on goal, but Luke Rathie got back in time to get a foot in the way and send the ball behind for a corner. Rocco Friel looked a threat coming in from the wide areas for the hosts, but the best he could offer was a shot off target.
Aberdeen were gifted the lead after twenty minutes. Rathie tried to find his goalkeeper with a back pass, this time however the ball had too much power on it and caught Cowie off guard entirely as the ball found its way into the back of the net to make it 1-2. A freak goal, but it was enough to hand the Dons the advantage.
Buoyed by the lead, the victors began to dominate the half. Rathie amended for his blunder by making a strong double save to deny both Bavidge and Dylan Lobban.
Issues playing out from the back continued to plague Hearts, Rathie passed straight to the feet of Bavidge, his shot weak and the struggling keeper was eventually able to collect.
It was only a short-lived period of relief however, and just after the 30 minute mark Findlay Marshall picked the ball up as Hearts again tried and failed to play out from the back, the midfielder danced around a few Maroon bodies and slotted the ball past Rathie.

HT. Heart of Midlothian 1 Aberdeen 3 The second 45 was a much less entertaining spectacle than the first, but Aberdeen remained on top throughout, despite not carving out an abundance of opportunities.
Timi Fatona's pace saw him burst down the right-hand flank and play through Emslie, who squared the ball across to the waiting Bavidge, however unfortunately for Alfie he was just in front of the ball and the young hitman saw the best chance of the half go abegging.
Lobban had shots both off target and then blocked by Rathie. Alongside Alfie Stewart and Marshall in the middle of the park the skipper put in a strong performance throughout and was unlucky not to get himself on the score sheet.
Hambrook and Sandilands had chances near the end for Hearts but Brendan Hamilton and Victor Enem defended well to ensure Aberdeen saw out the closing stages without too much of a panic.
Lewis Pirie, who was introduced for the last ten minutes held the ball up well and played in Bavidge who again was unable to convert. Alfie had worked hard throughout but was unable to get himself on the scoresheet.
Cammy Wilson came on with Emslie making way for the final few minutes, and there was to be no more chances for either side. In the end it was a great victory for the Young Dons on the road at an important time as the games continue to come thick and fast as the season begins to reach its conclusion.

Next up is a trip down to North Lanarkshire to take on Motherwell on Friday afternoon, kick off 2pm.