Aberdeen 3 - 1 Heart of Midlothian

In presence of fully 6000 spectators, the Heart of Midlothian played the Aberdeen yesterday in an East of Scotland League at the Pittodrie grounds, Aberdeen. The weather was dull and misty, and the grounds heavy and soft. In the first half the Aberdeen were most persistent in their attack. From a pass by Harvey, Robertson secured Aberdeen's first goal, and McAulay, after Harvey and Cruikshank failed, beat Philip with a magnificent shot. The display by the Hearts forwards was disappointing. The halves, especially Thomson, whose splendid work was much appreciated by the spectators, were strong in defence and attack, and never failed in giving the utmost support to the forwards, whose efforts close in were incohesive and ineffective. G. Wilson on the left wing, had on several occasions decidedly hard lines. On resuming, D. Wilson beat MacFarlane, and Edgar notched Aberdeen's third goal. The Aberdeen defence played a hard, sure game, while the forwards gave one of their most dashing displays of the season. The Hearts did not combine well, and their efforts close in were anything but finished. Final result:- Aberdeen, three goals; Hearts, one goal.

Source: The Scotsman,1905-05-02

The holiday fare provided by the directors of the Aberdeen Football Club at Pittodrie yesterday was of a very attractive nature, the visitors being no other than the famous Hearts of Midlothian, from Edinburgh. This was the first meeting of the Hearts and the Aberdeen this season, and naturally the match excited considerable interest. Bobby Walker, the well-known internationalist, travelled with the Hearts, but did not play as he is on the sick list. Two internationalists were, however, included in the Hearts team - Thompson and G. Wilson. When the teams took the field there were close on 5000 spectators around the arena. A heavy mist lay over Pittodrie - so thick and dense at times that only an indistinct, black mass marked the spot where stands the big gasometer. The ground was heavy and soft, and not at all likely to produce a fast game, although the Hearts were noted "tearers." The teams were:-
Hearts: Philip; McNeil, McLaren; D. Wilson, Thompson, Dixon; Moran, D. Wilson, Guthrie, Lavity, G. Wilson.
Aberdeen: Macfarlane; Willox, McNicol; Halkett, Sangster, Low; Harvey, Cruikshank, Robertson, McAulay, Edgar.
Referee - Mr. D. S. walker, Falkirk.

THE GAME

The mist was clearing away when the teams took the field, the Hearts getting a rousing cheer when they appeared, looking powerful and smart in their maroon jerseys and white pants. Aberdeen won the toss, and Hearts kicked off with their backs to the sea. Halkett missed his kick intercepting a pass to the left, the ball rolled into touch. Edgar and McAulay then broke away, but D. Wilson blocked. McAulay was again prominent for tricky work, which let Edgar away, but the outside man slipped, and the ball went out of play. Thompson, for forcing, bustling work was prominent for the Hearts, but he tried too much and was robbed by Low. Willox charged Moran off the ball, and Robertson got away on a speedy run, and beat McLaren; Philip however came out and saved his charge. A minute later, Harvey centred beautifully, and Robertson, dashing in, landed the ball in the net, easily beating Phillip. Willox and McNicol were in rare form, and kept the Hearts forwards at a safe distance. Aberdeen were now working well together, and having all the game. McAulay beat Wilson, and Henry Low, getting the ball, had a good shot for goal. McAulay was playing brilliantly. G. Wilson missed a rare pass from Thompson, with nobody in front of him but Macfarlane, and before the internationalist could recover, Sam Willox banged the ball out of play. Heart's then pressed for a time, but were not allowed to shoot. A magnificent run by McAulay, who drew out McNeil, let Edgar away. The Aberdeen outside left worked the ball down to within a yard of the line and crossed close in. Harvey and Cruikshank both missed and Philip fisted out. The ball landed at McAulay's feet, and the inside left, steadying himself, shot a brilliant goal, and put Aberdeen two goals up. A few minutes later Robertson, with a great shot, almost added a third. Aberdeen continued to play cleverly, the tactics being finished compared with those of their opponents. Hearts took a turn of pressing, and D. Wilson shot over the bar. Thompson also tried a shot, but Duncan McNicol came in the way. Still pegging away, Lavity sent in a rocket shot, which Macfarlane stopped and got away. Robertson, McAulay, and Edgar were working beautifully together, and, for the other team, aggressive work was done by Thompson, who ploughed his way through the Aberdeen defence in irresistible style. Sangster, playing a hard, sure game, stopped several dangerous rushes. McAulay's brain work was proving very useful, and made the Hearts' defence look quite juvenile. At the other end, Thompson ran through the defence and crossed, and Macfarlane hurled himself at the ball and one of the Hearts' forwards, and cleared daringly at the expense of a corner. Aberdeen kept up the enthusiasm of the spectators with a succession of pretty combined runs. Hearts', however, had plenty of go in them, and they soon were at the other end, where Macfarlane cleared on the post from a corner. Then away to the sea end went Aberdeen, and Edgar in good position shot over the bar. Sangster was cheered for beating Thompson. Harvey got away on the right, and while waiting for the pass, Robertson was tripped by McLaren, well inside the penalty line. The referee gave Robertson offside, but declined to notice the foul tactics of the Hearts. Aberdeen were lucky in not having a penalty awarded against them, as Duncan McNicol, hard pressed, handled the ball just inside the penalty line. At that moment, however, George Wilson fell to the ground, writhing with pain as a result of a kick, and the game was stopped for a few minutes. On the game being resumed, Hearts forced play, and looked like scoring. Duncan McNicol robbed Lavity close in, and punted down the field. Sangster was cheered repeatedly for his splendid work.

SECOND HALF

Cheered by excellent play of the ground team, the spectators were in good humour for the second half, as the Hearts, not playing up to their reputation, were likely to be beaten. McAulay started the second half by dribbling around several opponents. The pace in the first half had not been without its effect, for the players did not work with the same energy in the early stages of the second period. A dangerous run by Moran, who beat McNicol, led to a cross close in, but Halkett intercepted with his head, and the danger was averted. Hearts again got down, a tussle between McNicol and G. Wilson ending in the ball going out of play. Thompson caused a tremor in the crowd by the way he nipped the ball from Robertson's foot and dashed through all opposition. His finishing shot, however, went wide. Compared with the first half, the game was dead slow. Big kicking by Willox and McNicol was the feature of the game at this stage. Thompson again came down in breezy style, and passed to G. Wilson, who shot, but McNicol came in the way. A tricky shot by Dixon almost beat Macfarlane, who required a second grab at the ball as it was slipping over his shoulder to get it clear. Hearts had now wakened up with a vengeance, and it was only the expected that happened when D. Wilson beat Macfarlane with a fast grounder, which found the net in the far low corner to Mcfarlane's left. The Aberdeen goalkeeper made a commendable effort to save, hurling himself full length at the ball. Hearts pressed persistently and another raking shot was cleared in brilliant fashion by Macfarlane, who dropped the ball but recovered smartly. Thompson was a tower of strength for Hearts. Aberdeen were now playing without Robertson and this accounted for the falling-off in attack. Hearts kept the ball well into Aberdeen territory, but the punting of McNicol and the stubborn tackling of Willox gave the Edinburgh forwards little chance of becoming dangerous. Halkett, Henry Low, and Sangster all played well for Aberdeen. Robertson, after an absence of 15 minutes, returned, and was cheered for his pluck. Hearts then went away with a burst, but their efforts were of the spasmodic order. A dash was made to the other end by Aberdeen, and Harvey crossed to McAulay, who shot in. What may be described as a bombardment of the Hearts' goal followed. A stinger from McAulay was got away with difficulty by Philip. Henry Low next had a pot shot, which was cleared by the right back at the expense of a corner. Then, in the scrimmage, Robertson cleverly headed the ball into the goal, and only smart work by the Edinburgh goalkeeper averted disaster. The Aberdonians were working hard for another goal, and outplayed the Hearts at every point. An advantageously placed ball by Willox was lost by Edgar, who slipped, but the outside left a few minutes later retrieved his slip. The ball was driven into goal and Philip just held it, but before he could recover his balance and throw out, Edgar crashed into him and bundled ball and goalkeeper into the net, thus scoring Aberdeen's third goal. Aberdeen then almost toyed with their opponents, so clever was their footwork, and only the hardest luck prevented them from scoring several times in the closing period of the game. Harvey, over-anxious, failed to pick up a well-timed pass from McAulay. Hearts made off, but they could not pass Willox. Then the Hearts' goal had a miraculous escape. Robertson played a pass from Edgar into goal, but Philip ran to the side with the ball. Robertson hustled the goalkeeper, who lost his head, and the ball was slipped back and darted in front of an open goal just on the line. Nobody was there to put the ball into the net, and a glorious opportunity of scoring Aberdeen's fourth goal was lost. In the concluding 10 minutes the Aberdonians were complete masters of the game, even Duncan McNicol coming forward to give Thompson a touch of his weight, much to the international centre half-back's surprise. Hearts, exasperated, hot, and angry, resorted to shady tactics. Dickson was penalised for taking the legs from Cruikshank, and a minute later the referee failed to observe a sparring match between Edgar and an Edinburgh player, the latter being the aggressor. Halkett and Cruikshank were conspicuous for neat overhead short passing, which completely nonplused their opponents. Hearts, in their last visits to the Aberdeen goal, forced a corner off McNicol, and the outstanding incident at the finish was a rocket shot by McAulay, which was a foot too high. An interesting game, in which the Aberdeen played by far the better football ended - Aberdeen, 3; Hearts of Midlothian, 1. The gate amounted to £100.

Source: Aberdeen Daily Journal, 2nd May 1905