Aberdeen 1 - 1 Motherwell

Aberdeen Top Dogs Three-quarters of Game.

CLEVER OUTFIELD WORK NULLIFIED BY WEAK FINISHING.

Motherwell's non-stop run of success came to an end at Pittodrie yesterday, when Aberdeen held them to 1-1 draw. A buoyant Pittodrie team practically played the League leaders to a standstill, and the visitors must be congratulating themselves on escaping defeat.
For seventy-five per cent of the game Aberdeen were top-dogs, and a badly rattled Motherwell team were battling desperately to keep their unbeaten record intact.

The fact that the Fir Parkers have conceded only five goals in ten matches speaks volumes for their defence, but yesterday McClory and his backs, although they put up a magnificent display, were lucky to lose only one goal.
Aberdeen to some extent, however, have themselves to blame that they did not retain both points. They were smart enough in the outfield, but at goalmouth they were by no means impressive.

Mills Impresses.

The cleverest forward afield was Mills, Aberdeen's eighteen-year-old inside-left. His clever individual runs and sweeping passes to the wings made him a continual menace to the Motherwell defence.
Beynon, on the right wing, was the only other home attacker who really impressed.
Moore was too well guarded by Blair to threaten danger, although he took his goal smartly. Gall, at outride-left, never settled against Crapnell, while Warnock, who reappeared at inside-right, met with little success.
Fraser and Thomson, the Pittodrie wing halves, rattled into their respective wings first time, and the result was that the Motherwell attack was never allowed to settle.
Fraser was the more prominent of the pair, as he kept in touch with his forwards as well as keeping his end up in defence.

Falloon's Part.

Falloon was head and shoulders above the others in defence. The stuffy little Irishman played a big part in the holding of the Motherwell attack and clung tenaciously to McFadyen, the Fir Park leader, all through the game.
Smith goal got little to do, and was well guarded by Cooper and McGill, both of whom were in good fettle.
McClory, although crippled early in the game, played a hero's part in the Motherwell goal. Crapnell was the steadier and more polished back, and Blair proved himself a sound defensive pivot.

Halves Kept Busy.,/p> Wales and Telfer, the wing halves, got little chance to shine in attack - they were too busy holding the Aberdeen forwards in check.
The visitors' attack was only in the picture at intervals, but when they did get going they combined cleverly and always threatened danger. Ogilvie and McMenemy were best.
Aberdeen held the advantage from the start, and in eleven minutes Mills had the ball in the net. The point was disallowed for offside despite a strong appeal by the Dons.

Stevenson's Goal.

The unexpected happened in twenty-four minutes when Stevenson hooked the bail into the net following an Ogilvie corner. Aberdeen claimed for offside, but the referee turned a deaf ear.
The Dons strove desperately to get on level terms, but Motherwell succeeded in holding their slender lead until the interval.
Aberdeen launched attack after attack in the second half, but twenty-four minutes had gone before Moore nodded home the equaliser from a well-placed Cooper free kick.
Motherwell were forced to concentrate on defence, and must have sighed with relief when the final whistle went.

Source: Press & Journal, 26th September 1933