Aberdeen 4
Dundee 1
League (Premier Division)

Match Report

Newspaper extract from The Courier .

Aberdeen manager Alex. Ferguson has a problem. Halfway through the second half of his team's outstanding performance against Dundee on Saturday, he suddenly found himself pondering the fact that next week, all being well, he would have four top players again-available for selection against Motherwell.

The problem? How to fit them into a line-up which won 4-1 in what he describes as Dons' best display of the season?

"I wish I had his worries!" I can hear just about every other manager in the game chorusing-especially when you con- sider the four are Cooper, Simp- son, Hewitt and Black, all of international standard, missing because of injury or illness on Saturday.

The manager, being who he is, he'll solve the problem, "We do pick specific players for specific games," he reflected- so let's not speculate, let's analyse the game that even more firmly entrenched Aber- deen at the top of the Premier League, with a three-point gap for the first time this season.

Twenty minutes into the proceedings Dundee looked cap- able of producing a result of which they could be proud. They were a goal up through Ray Stephen in eight minutes and moving well.

A McKinlay free-kick floated in on the strong wind and broke to Stephen after keeper Jim Leighton and John Brown clashed. He promptly cracked it into the net from 15 yards.

The Dons were definitely playing second fiddle at this stage, but, urged on by Willie Miller, they steadily upped the pace, worked harder and started to use the width of the park. The equaliser was almost inevitable.

Bett backheeled to Miller on the left, he crossed and Alex. McLeish headed past a helpless Geddes.

"We worked all week emphasising that you must make sure Aberdeen don't get over many crosses. That is where they get their goals and that's where they got them from again," said a disappointed Archie Knox afterwards. He was right-all four goals involved a cross ball at some stage.

"We fought well for half-an-hour but didn't sustain it." continued Knox, "You must get going and keep going against the better teams. We got going, but didn't keep going.

I must, at this point, record that Frank McDougall missed a chance... after all it's news if a player who nets five in two games misses! That was in the 42nd minute, but, sadly for Dundee, he didn't miss again in 67 minutes.

Duffy headed out a cross, McLeish headed the ball back in and, before you could say "Pittodrie," McDougall had despatched it past Geddes.

There were fleeting moments. after this when Dundee threatened, when Duffy, in the clear in the penalty area, miskicked a Connor corner, but the McDougall goal was really the begin- ning of the end.

Stark and Bett were the creators, then Stark turned destroyer in the late stages. In 83 minutes, Miller (yes, that defender again!) lashed in a right-wing cross-cum-shot which spiralled up from Connor and Smith. Stark rose high to head in.

Four minutes later he missed a Weir cross, but the ball went to young Steve Gray who crossed again. This time the Stark head didn't miss from practically on the line.

"We were well beaten" said Archie Knox at the end. "It doesn't matter that we competed, the game lasts 90 minutes and we went down to a better team. He summed up Aber- deen's performance as, "They are bred to win-and it showed."