Morton 1 - 1 Aberdeen

Played at Cappielow, Greenock, before fully 5000 spectators. The exchanges were even in the first half, each side scoring a point. Through McIntosh the visitors gained the first goal after twenty minutes' play. Morton were aggressive for a spell, May and Stark being prominent in breaking up tactics. Morton equalised after thirty-five minutes, Irvine giving the finishing touch. The visitors were dangerous on resuming, Murray sending in a shot which Bradford had difficulty in getting rid of. Afterwards play was evenly divided, and there was no further scoring. Result:- Morton, one goal; Aberdeen, one goal.

Source: The Scotsman, 17th April 1911

Aberdeen and Morton were greatly handicapped by a greasy ball and uncertain foothold in their return league match at Cappielow Park, Greenock, on Saturday, when the result was a draw of one goal each. There was a comparatively small turnout of spectators, about 3000 witnessing the game. The teams were:-

Morton: Bradford; Jackson, Fulton; May, Stark, McLean; Irvine, Bolton, Smith, O'Hagan, Lindsay.
Aberdeen: King; Colman, Harper; Davidson, Wyllie, Millar; Soye, Murray, McIntosh, Travers, Lennie.
Referee - Mr. Lyons, Hamilton.

Morton won the toss, and played with the wind in their favour. The field was very soft when the game started, while during the entire first half rain fell in torrents. Early in the game the Greenock team had an excellent chance of opening the scoring, when Lindsay crossed finely in front of goal. Bolton caught up the pass all right, but shot weakly, the ball travelling wide of the uprights. Aberdeen responded with a spout to the other end of the field. In attempting to clear a long pass from Davidson to Soye, the Greenock left back missed his kick, and the Aberdeen outside right raced ahead, outstripped Fulton in a race for the ball, and then crossed to Lennie. The latter replied with a fast, low drive which fit the foot of the upright and rebounded into play, with Bradford at the opposite end of his goal-line. Good work by Stark and May brought the play to the Aberdeen goalmouth. A corner to Morton was successfully cleared by Harper, but Stark caught up the ball smartly, and then let drive for goal. His shot was accurate and very fast, but King cleared splendidly in the nick of time. A burst through by McIntosh, followed by a long pass out to Soye, relieved the pressure at the Aberdeen goalmouth, but Morton once more to cut the running, Stark and May being always prominent in the raids towards the Aberdeen goal. A lovely shot from Stark when skimming over the crossbar. The wet ball and slippery ground troubled both teams, and miskicking was frequent at goalmouth. Morton were the better side so far, but their forwards floundered badly in the mud near goal. The range showed no signs of clearing - indeed, the downpour got worse, with the result that certain parts of the field were entirely underwater. Tricky work by O'Hagan was ultimately checked by Davidson, who, however, was penalised for fouling the Irishman. McIntosh wrought hard for Aberdeen, but was unfortunate in his control of the heavy ball. Still, he was the most prominent forward on his side, although Travers was also energetic, but the high wind and heavy rain kept the Aberdeen more or less on the defensive. Twenty minutes' football had brought no tangible reward to either side, although Morton had by far the better of the exchanges. At this stage, however, change came over the game, Aberdeen showing great activity on the left, mainly as the outcome of Millar's fine work. The left half broke away from near midfield, keeping the ball well under control. Without stopping the pass to his forwards, Millar quickly rounded three opponents, and then slipped the ball through for McIntosh to rush in and score. This the centre did with are rare drive which sent the ball hard against the crossbar and thereafter into the net. It was a well-taken goal, and Millar deserves all the credit for the point. McIntosh attempted to repeat the performance a few minutes later, but was held up by the Morton backs. A dangerous cross from Lindsay was cleared by Millar, after Wyllie and Davidson had failed to get up the ball. Strong kicking by Harper was a feature of the game at this stage, while Colman was also prominent, although lacking the kicking powers of Harper. For a time the Aberdeen goal was in extreme danger. King, however, fielded several long balls in capital style, while he got rid of shots from May and Smith with little to spare. Harper saved a certain goal when he stressed that his right foot and diverted a shot from May, while Stark had another drive which took a lot of stopping. The persistent pressure by Morton, however, was bound to tell in the end, an Irvine finally beat king close range, although the ball hit one of the uprights ere it reached the net. Once more on level terms, but teams went at it with renewed energy. The heavy downpour and sodden pitch, however, rendered really good play well nigh impossible. Close on the interval Morton came away strongly, and Colman, Harper, and King did well to keep the home forwards from scoring. Aberdeen were rarely dangerous up to the interval.

There was an improvement in the overhead conditions when the game was resumed, but the pitch was in a very bad state. This was particularly the case near each goalmouth, where the water play in pools. Morton opened in dashing style, O'Hagan and Lindsay getting away from the kick-off, but Colman transfer of play to the other end of the field, and for a time the Morton goal underwent severe pressure. Murray had one particularly good shot, which Bradford cleared on the goal-line not a moment too soon. Rallying on the right, Morton kept the Aberdeen defence busy for a few minutes, and when Colman spooned his kick there was just the off-chance of Morton gaining the lead. Harper, however, rushed back and cleared in capital style, the kicking of the left back being ahead of any other defender on the field. A long shot from Soye took the goalkeeper by surprise, Bradford reaching the ball with the tips of his fingers close to the crossbar. Aberdeen had now the best of matters, and 10 minutes after the interval it might have got on the lead and McIntosh finished a clever run with a goal. As it was, the centre-forward got clean through between the backs, and could easily have gone on a few yards further, but he preferred to shoot, and had the misfortune to witness the ball striking the crossbar and rebounding into play. Millar next came to the front with a fine shot along the ground, the ball passing just outside the upright. Following upon Miller's effort came an equally good attempt by Irvine. Catching up a pass from the inside right, Irvine ran right through the Aberdeen defence, and was actually within 3 yards of King, and seemed likely to score, when Harper got back in time to check Irvine just as the latter was steadying himself for the final effort. Next Smith, centre, had an easy chance of scoring of a centre by Irvine. The ball came right to Smith's feet, but the latter, with only the goalkeeper in front of him, lofted the ball high over the bar. Morton's forwards had never developed a fine understanding, the right wing pair being specially good, while Stark and May were ever ready to back up the efforts of the front rank. Aberdeen, however, made repeated attempts to get on the lead, but the majority of the shots that reached Bradford were easily dealt with. King, however, got a warm handful from Smith, following upon a corner. Near the close the visitors strove hard for the winning goal, but the Aberdeen forwards rarely touched their best form, and failed to press home the attack with any degree of success. Fulton frequently missed his kick towards the finish of the match, but Jackson invariably came to the rescue of his side.

The gate was estimated at £75.

Source: Aberdeen Daily Journal, 17th April 1911