Heart of Midlothian 1 - 0 Aberdeen

Aberdeen won their first two corners of the match in the 32nd minute, but were crowded out allowing de Vries to break. Fortunately Diamond got back to deny the Hearts striker. The Dons were back up the field a minute later to win their third corner, which Hearts dealt with comfortably. With four minutes of the half remaining Zdrilic almost grabbed a goal when Gordon rushed from his goal and hit the ball off the Aussie. Luckily for the Hearts keeper the ball rolled wide of the target.

Hearts then had a strong penalty claim a minute later as McNaughton clashed with Hartley. Mr. Dougal indicated that McNaughton had played the ball first and turned appeals aside. This seemed to spark the game into life and Clark forced a save from Gordon before Hearts raced up field and Stamp went close with his effort. Then in the second minute of the one-minute of injury time Hearts won a free kick on the edge of the box, but Preece made a comfortable stop from Stamp's effort.

Then in the 55th minute Aberdeen broke quickly when Sheerin released Hinds and the striker beat Kisnorbo before firing inches wide of the goal with Gordon beaten. With Zander Diamond off the pitch receiving treatment in the 59th minute Mark de Vries earned a 5.9 for a dive inside the Dons box. Mr. Dougal was again unimpressed, but surprisingly didn't book the striker. With the Dons back to eleven men they won a free kick in the Hearts half, which ended with a weak Anderson effort, which Gordon saved easily. In the 64th minute Heikkinen and McNaughton got in a mix up before the Fin fired an effort wide of the target.

A minute later Preece was down quickly to save a fierce Kisnorbo drive. In the 68th minute Hinds did well to keep the ball in play and set up his striking partner. Zdrilic was eventually crowded out and the ball cleared. Following a poor Hearts free kick Aberdeen broke again and efforts from Sheerin and Zdrilic put the home side under pressure. The Dons were certainly enjoying the lions share of the game at this stage, but like the home side earlier they were unable to score when in the ascendancy.

Just as Aberdeen looked to be taking control they were hit by a sucker punch when Hearts won a penalty in the 81st minute when Diamond tripped de Vries. Pressley stepped up and fired the ball past Preece to give the home side a lead they barely deserved. With five minutes remaining the Dons won a free kick when Pressley cynically fouled Hinds. Just when the Dons needed a decent delivery Morrison failed to find his colleagues and the chance and the points were gone.