Buckie Thistle 0 - 3 Aberdeen

The warm weather attracted a bumper crowd of about 3,000 to Victoria Park this afternoon, but the heat and the long grass did little to help the football on show. The Dons set up in a 4-4-2 formation with Touzani at right back and Dan Smith at left and Diamond and Considine in the centre of the defence. Foster played on the right of the midfield with Heuvel on the left and Nicholson and Clark in the centre. Brewster and Mackie played up front.

Aberdeen carved out the first chance in the opening minute when captain for the day, Chris Clark, set up Heuvel who in turn fired over. Three minutes later Heuvel had a decent run and cross that evaded everyone before the Dons forced a series of corners. A mistake from Foster in the 10th minute created a half chance for the home side. Foster was light with a pass back and Dan Smith had to step in and retrieve the situation.

A Foster cross was headed over by Brewster in the 19th minute and two minutes later Nicholson and Brewster combined well before Nicholson forced a fine save from the home keeper. Mackie carved out a chance for himself in the 28th minute before being denied by a last ditch tackle. The Dons pressure paid off three minutes later when Brewster fired the visitor's ahead. Heuvel and Smith combined well on the left and Foster turned a great cross from the Trialist back across goal and Brewster steered the ball into the net.

Heuvel and Smith combined well again two minutes later, but this time the cross evaded everyone. Three minutes from the break Nicholson set up Heuvel but the shot was rushed and was screwed well wide of the target. In the final minute Brewster set up Nicholson but the midfielder fired his effort straight at the keeper. The Dons extended their lead in the 52nd minute when Foster set up Brewster. The veteran striker controlled the ball well and fired into the net.

 Three minutes later Severin replaced Touzani before Diamond released Mackie with a long through ball but the striker blasted over. In the 65th minute Clark cut in from the left and hit a decent shot across the face of the goal. The keeper did well to turn the effort wide and two minutes later Maguire replaced Nicholson. In the 71st minute Foster set up Mackie but the striker missed the target and a minute later Calderwood made a double substitution. Lovell replaced Heuvel and Mair replaced Smith. Brewster went close to sealing his hat trick in the 78th minute but his goal bound header was blocked and two minutes later the veteran controlled the ball well but blasted over before being replaced by de Visscher. The series of substitutions from both sides didn't help the flow of the game, but Maguire had injected some pace into the proceedings since coming on and it was he who set up the final goal of the game when his cross was prodded in by Darren Mackie.

 Jimmy spoke to RedWeb after the match and was not so upbeat as he had been after the midweek game. "I wasn't too happy with the first half performance, but it wasn't helped by the pitch. It's not an excuse but the players kept getting the ball caught up under their feet. Things improved after the break and I thought Heuvel did o.k. and put in some decent crosses. He tired in the second half, but this was to be expected as he hasn't played for some time."

As Jimmy revealed on RedTV on Friday, Richie Byrne will not be travelling with the squad to Egypt and his place has been taken by rookie keeper Greg Kelly.