Right Ear Right now
Ferguson and Dons ready for Hampden Roar
MATTY KENNEDY has taken just five weeks as an Aberdeen player to book his first dream date at Hampden.
Now the winger – a standout for the Dons in the quarter-final win over St Mirren – is determined to make sure there’s a quick-fire return trip to the National Stadium as he chases his first piece of career silverware.
Aberdeen were too strong for the Buddies in a rain-swept Paisley with Kennedy providing an assist for Lewis Ferguson’s brilliant opener in an allround impressive display.
The 25-year-old was a key figure in the previous round win over Kilmarnock too as he chipped in with his first goal for the Dons.
And Kennedy, who was a 17-yearold rookie on the fringes of the Killie side that lifted the League Cup in 2012, is praying this could finally be his year for glory as Aberdeen look to end a 30-year wait for the trophy.
He said: “We came here to do a job to get into the next round and we’ve done that. I’ve never played at Hampden so I’m delighted to get there and hopefully when the gaffer names the team for the semi-final I’ll be on the teamsheet.
“The manager is the main reason I came here along with the size of the club and its history. It was a no-brainer when Aberdeen were interested.
“I want to go to cup finals and I want to win trophies. I feel I’m good enough to play in a team that goes to finals and competes for silverware.
“I’m feeling good, the manager gives me confidence and it’s all positives at the club.”
Kennedy insists his team-mates had no idea Rangers had been knocked out by Hearts – but reckons the Dons are good enough to beat anyone on their day.
He added: “We played well against Celtic last time. They scored in the last five minutes. On another day we could have nicked it.
“We can take confidence from that and the way we pushed them. They’re champions for a reason. But we know we can beat anyone on our day.”
Kennedy may be looking forward to a first trip to Hampden as a player but for Derek McInnes it will be a ninth semi-final in seven years as Dons boss.
McInnes had his players fired up to carry out a professional job on the Buddies with a huge travelling Red Army bursting with expectation their side would put their stuttering league form to one side.
And they came out the traps flying. After just seven minutes Kennedy took the ball for a run on the left before feeding Ferguson whose flicked effort with the outside of his boot flew past Vaclav Hladky into the top corner. It was a piece of brilliance but Aberdeen failed to build on it, seeming content to drop deep and attempt to soak up the pressure instead.
The home side enjoyed large spells of possession without seriously troubling Joe Lewis in the Dons goal.
Aberdeen had Funso Ojo back in midfield after a spell out injured and teenager Dean Campbell retained his place despite last week’s red card shocker against Ross County.
And together with the tenacious Ferguson it was a well-balanced middle three although workrate
rather than creativity was order of the day in the horrendous underfoot conditions.
Aberdeen were dealt a blow within five minutes of the restart when McKenna limped off with a hamstring problem to be replaced by Mikey Devlin – and the defender looks to be a serious doubt for Scotland’s play-off clash with Israel in just over three weeks’ time.
Curtis Main had the ball in the net after 54 minutes but his diving header was chalked off for offside with the excellent Kennedy again the provider.
With McInnes cutting an anxious figure in the away dugout, top scorer Sam Cosgrove was introduced with 18 minutes to go.
And it was the towering frontman who finally put the game to bed in the first minute of injury time.
Conor McCarthy’s heavy touch was pounced upon by Cosgrove who was hauled down by Sam Foley as he burst into the box.
The English striker kept his cool to roll the ball past Hladky for his 23rd goal of the season and send the Dons into the last four.
Kennedy paid tribute to the Dons’ youthful midfield – in particular 18-year-old Campbell and Ferguson, 20. He said: “Fergie and Deano have a great opportunity at their age and a lot of boys don’t get that.
“A lot of boys don’t get to cup finals in their whole career. We need them to do a job for the team and so far they have done that.
“At times we got the ball down well and played, although we probably could have done it a little bit more.
“It doesn’t matter how you play – if you’re in the next round of the Cup that’s the main thing.
“Yes, there was pressure on us. The fans came in their numbers and supported us to the final whistle so fair play to them because it’s a long way to come.”