Dundee 1 - 1 Aberdeen

Match Report

With Reynolds and McGinn given some time off ahead of their international duty, and with McLean, Jack and Flood not playing again this season, there were a number of changes this afternoon. Aberdeen lined up with Brown in goal, Logan at right back, Daniels and Taylor in central defence and Considine at left back. Hayes and Robson were in central midfield with Smith on the left and Pawlett wide right. Goodwillie and Shankland were up front. Scotland U17 Internationalists Frank Ross and Daniel Harvie were included on the bench for the first time. Also Jonny Hayes captained the side for the first time.

In the third minute Dundee forced the first corner which Gadzhalov won in the air but his header was well off target. A few minutes later Smith was forced to give away another corner. The ball was swung in across the six yard box and Gadzhalov was mighty close to getting a touch but the ball was somehow missed by everyone. A let off for the Dons.

An excellent delivery from a Robson free kick 40 yards out was turned towards goal by Daniels but he was penalised for a foul. Then at the other end Daniels gave away a corner which was better dealt with this time by the Dons defence.

In the 10th minute Aberdeen won their first corner of the afternoon but it came to nothing. In the 12th minute Logan did very well to deal with a cross after Dundee had got in behind the Dons down the right. A minute later player of the year candidate Greg Stewart did well to create room for a shot and his curling effort just went past the post.

After a bright start to the game there was a bit of a lull in play.

On 18 minutes Pawlett gave the ball away but Dundee gave it straight back to him. He ran in on goal before hitting a low shot which keeper Kyle Letheren did not deal with and was fortunate when the ball rebounded off him that it did not go to a red shirt. Aberdeen kept the move alive and Considine did really well at the back post before cutting the ball back to Smith. With his back to goal Cammy managed to get a shot away on the turn which Letheren did well to save. The rebound bounced up for Smith who appeared to be heading the ball into an empty net but Letheren did brilliantly to get up and get a strong arm on the ball to deflect it over the bar- an outstanding save.

The Dons, who had not scored in their previous two games, had another great chance on 22 minutes when Pawlett played in Smith and his cut back found captain Hayes at the near post but his shot was deflected behind. Three minutes later Pawlett set up Logan and his excellent cross found Goodwillie unmarked but he headed over. Back came Dundee and Luka Tankulic forced Scott Brown into a fine diving save although the shot was at a nice height for a keeper.

Just after the half hour mark Robson tried a shot from distance which he dragged wide of the post.
Aberdeen were playing some good football with Pawlett having an influence on proceedings. Dundee were struggling to cope with Peter and Shay down the right.

39 minutes in and Smith and Shankland combined brilliantly - something they have been doing all season for the U20s - to set Hayes free down the left. His powerful low cross was pushed out by Letheren. Shankland was first to it and although there was no pace on the ball he managed to get a really powerful shot away on the turn which the keeper just managed to keep out.

Robson was then shown a yellow card by referee Euan Anderson. The referee had let a lot go before that which was fair enough but why book Barry for his first foul? A few minutes later Kostadin Gadzhalov was booked for a bad tackle on Pawlett. It was the only time the Dundee player got close to Peter during the first 45 minutes. Considine headed a corner over before in the 43rd minute Dundee took the lead against the run of play. The Dons defence failed to deal with a bouncing ball and Luka Tankulic nipped in to lift the ball over Brown before hammering it into the empty net. Both Daniels and Taylor should have dealt with the situation better. '

HT 1-0

At the start of the second half the sizable Red Army tried to lift the side. On 49 minutes Goodwillie won a corner. Robson whipped in a good ball to the near post which was met by Taylor but his header just went over. Daniels then played in a good high ball which Goodwillie flicked on but no Aberdeen player could react quickly enough.

The game then became quite scrappy with a lot of soft fouls.

Aberdeen continued to have all the pressure and forced a number of corners. On 58 minutes Robson forced Letheren into another fine save when his shot from 22 yards was pushed away by the keeper. In front of him the Dundee defence were also doing a very good job at dealing with all the crosses that were coming their way. On the hour mark the first change of the afternoon by Derek McInnes - Shankland was replaced by Rooney.
Dundee were not offering much going forward which was probably just as well because with the Dons chasing the game they did not look in complete control at the back.

Midway through the half the Dons had lost their way with too many passes going astray. The tempo of the match really had dropped and the Aberdeen attacking players were less of an influence.

With fifteen minutes to go Robson won a free kick in a promising area. Barry took the kick himself and although he beat the wall his shot was always rising. With ten minutes to go a Considine long throw landed at the feet of Robson but his first time volley again went over.

Nicky Low then came on for Daniels. He was given a big cheer by both sets of fans. The formation now looked better and Low added some more control to the Aberdeen play but they could not mount any serious attack in the final ten minutes.

With two minutes to go Frank Ross came on to make his debut replacing David Goodwillie. Frank had just returned on Friday from the U17 European Championships. The midfielder has made a number of appearances for the U20s although the majority of his games this season have been with Scott Anderson's U17 side.

Then two minutes into injury time Aberdeen won a corner when a Dundee defender almost headed the ball into his own net after Frank Ross had put over a very good cross from the right. Scott Brown came up for it and he caused some real confusion. The keeper may even have got a touch as he went for Robson's delivery. The ball was knocked into the path of Rooney and he fired home from close range. Finally the Dons got the break of the ball in the box and Adam was not going to miss from there.

Certainly not the best performance but full credit to the Dons for going till the very end and it was a debut to remember for Frank Ross.