SOAK & DAGGER
Wet and wild Dons stick the knife into Well as they pile on pressure in race for second
WHETHER it was the pouring rain or sustained periods of pressure, Aberdeen managed to soak it up and surge clear in the race for second.
Dons dug deep on a brutal night to dump Motherwell in the bottom six after the split and move three points clear of Rangers in the bid to be best of the rest in the Premiership.
Kari Arnason and Kenny McLean struck in the second half on the kind of filthy evening even your dog wouldn’t be looking to go for walkies.
It might have been a dry run for the Scottish Cup semi-final showdown between these teams but it was a blooming wet night at Fir Park.
The foul conditions made it a nightmare for the sides but Aberdeen showed the resilience that’s made them the second-best outfit in the country in recent years.
Dons held firm when Well went on the charge – and then had the quality to sink the Steelmen when the opportunities arose.
Stephen Robinson’s side’s hopes of a top-half finish went down the drain in the rain but they’ll have another crack at the Reds soon enough.
It wasn’t last night that did their top-six chances though – it was the injury-hit run before Christmas.
And they caused enough problems against Derek McInnes’s men to have hope at Hampden.
It was a minor miracle the game went ahead last night.
It’s not just the form that’s been turned around at Fir Park. The team have endured a few relegation scrapes in recent years but the old pitch would have been sent down without any need for play-offs.
No more though. The Neverending Winter has not managed to take the sheen off the superb new surface and neither could another 48 hours of the big man upstairs emptying his bathtub on top of us.
The pitch somehow withstood the battering but the relentless rain didn’t exactly help produce flowing football.
Turns out it’s tricky trapping a ball while wearing waders.
There may have been dark clouds above but it was the shadow of Hampden that loomed in Lanarkshire. These two sides have a date at the National Stadium next weekend but several key men involved last night won’t be around by then.
Well’s Carl McHugh was in place, as were Graeme Shinnie, Shay Logan and Kenny McLean for Aberdeen – but the four of them will be in the stands after picking up suspensions on the road to Mount Florida. The fact all played last night showed this was no time for experimenting with line-ups.
Both teams had plenty to play for before the semi showdown.
Aberdeen – with Joe Lewis back in goal after injury – are desperate to remain Scotland’s second force and started snappily, with McLean carving out space down the left before hitting the side-netting. Greg Stewart also went close, darting inside from the right before lashing over the top with his left peg.
Well’s slim top-six hopes were also on the line but it was Aberdeen who looked the more threatening in the opening half an hour, with another McLean drive into the box eventually deflected wide.
The Dons playmaker was the main dangerman and he popped up at the back post to get on the end of Stewart’s cross but the angle was tight and Well managed to smuggle the ball to safety.
The home side were struggling to get out of their own half but a hoof up the park earned a free-kick in dangerous territory and Ryan Bowman nodded wide from Elliott Frear’s set-piece. Well were creeping into the clash as half-time approached, however,
The flow was mainly in the other direction though and it took a timely swipe from the boot from Tom Aldred to redirect Andy Considine’s dangerous cross away from the lurking Stevie May.
and Bowman’s strength in the air was causing Aberdeen issues.
He met Richard Tait’s deep cross and forced Lewis to paw the ball out before Curtis Main could pounce on the knockdown.
But neither side could carve out any advantage before the break and the hairdryer treatment at half-time would have been welcomed if it took the edge off the soaking shirts.
The players would have needed wet suits immediately though as the heavens opened up with a fresh downpour moments after the restart.
Motherwell waded in quickly and Aldred’s header from Chris Cadden’s corner wasn’t far off target. Moments later Main wriggled free of his marker and his skidding shot across the slippery surface almost caught out Lewis. But the keeper got enough of his body behind the ball to take out the sting and allow him to gather at the second attempt.
Well were doing all the pressing with Main proving a major pain, roughing up defenders and looking to punch holes.
Aberdeen were forced to hit on the break and they almost pinched the lead after Cedric Kipre slipped at the back. May was on to the loose ball but Motherwell managed to get reinforcements back in time to crowd the striker out as he got set to pull the trigger.
The chance gave Dons a jolt though – and soon Arnason gave them the lead in 66 minutes.
The big Iceland international powered his way into the box to meet McLean’s corner and bullet a header high past Trevor Carson.
Well were shocked and still looked stunned when McLean doubled the lead just two minutes later when he shifted another short corner and cut inside before finding the far corner.
Aberdeen were home and dry.