DONS DONE IN

 

 

Last season Aberdeen were managed by Mark McGhee and faced Motherwell three times in the SPL. The results were a 0-0 draw at Pittodrie, a 1-1 draw and Fir Park and a 3-0 defeat at Pittodrie which proved pretty embarrassing for all concerned. Back in 08/09 Jimmy Calderwood was Dons manager and his Reds did much better against well, winning 1-0 at Fir Park, 2-0 at Pittodrie before drawing 1-1 at Fir Park. For the last time the Dons made a clean sweep of Motherwell you have to go back to the 06/07 season when the Reds won 2-0 at Fir Park, 2-1 at Pittodrie and 2-0 at Fir Park. The Dons overall record against this bunch is pretty mixed.

This time around well McGhee started the season as Donsmanager and drew 1-1 with a Craig Brown managed Motherwell at Fir Park...then McGhee got booted and Brown came into replace him. Cue an upturn in form and now the former Scotland gaffer was ready to host his former side in an SPL game at Pittodrie and though survival is nowhere near secure, they should be reasonably confident of seeing off these opponents. The Dons started the game 4-3-3 with Langfield in goal, David MacNamee, Diamond, Steven Smith and Nikola Vujadinović(on loan from Udinese) in defence. Hartley(captain) Aluko and Jack in midfield, Vernon, Maguire and Nick Blackman up front.

Well the Dons didn't hang around. In the 3rd minute Smith set up Aluko who darted inside the Motherwell defence before zinging in a shot off the post. Motherwell replied by hamming the Dons goal though and in the 14th minute Steven Craigan sent in a cross that Francis Jeffers headed in to level the match. The Dons came back to hammer at the visitors goal but weren't able to get anywhere and at the other end, Motherwell certainly had their own opportunities. Bottom line though, the first half ended level and Craig Brown needed to get his Dons to reload if they were going to get three points out of this encounter and continue the hopes of making the top half of the table.

The early stages of the match weren't particularly eventful but then the Dons shot themselves in the foot by going down to ten men. After that, Motherwell clearly got themselves an edge and the question was, could the Reds keep them out? The answer turned out to be no. The Dons gave Jamie Murphy way too much space in the 71st minute and he ran through to turn the game around. If anything Well could have gotten a third but that didn't happen. When the dust had settled, Craig Brown was not a happy man, knowing full well that his guys should have been able to build on their lead. The hope has to be that this'll be a one-off.

Elsewhere, Inverness CT drew 3-3 with St Mirren at St Mirren Park. Caley opened the scoring only for the home side to turn the game round, then Caley turned the game back around with goals either side of half time before the Buddies grabbed an equaliser but not a winner. Hamilton were beaten 2-0 by Hearts at St Douglas Park. The Jambos hit the net either side of half time in what was a fairly straightforward encounter. So, that leaves Aberdeen 9th in the SPL, seven points behind Inverness CT and the top half of the table but with a game in hand and nine points ahead of Hamilton and relegation but the Accies have a game in hand.

On a wider scale, the Europa League 1st knockout round 1st leg matches were taking place. Man City drew 0-0 with Aris Salonika at the Harilous Stadium. Not the best result for the Blues but not the worst either, it's now all to play for at the City of Manchester Stadium. Liverpool then drew 0-0 with Sparta Prague at the AXA in an encounter that was the ultimate in dullsville but not a disaster for the Scousers. Finally Rangers drew 1-1 with Sporting Lison at Ibrox which leaves the SPL side in a small bit of trouble. Bottom line, none of the British sides are doing awesomely but the two Premiuership sides should still reach the next round.

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