Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Pittodrie loss big worry for Dark Blues
EARLY on it was a case of what might have been but, by the final whistle, it was more it could have been much worse as Dundee were comprehensively beaten by in-form Aberdeen at Pittodrie.
The Dark Blues’ Friday night visit to the Granite City started brightly enough.
A Cammy Kerr cross in the opening exchanges saw Marcus Haber pull a decent save out of home keeper Joe Lewis with a low shot.
Then a dipping Paul McGowan effort from outside the area bounced high off the top of the bar with Lewis well beaten.
And when Craig Wighton, the team’s best performer on the night, swept home a Haber knock-on from 16 yards, it seemed they’d made the perfect start.
The effort, however, was chalked off by the linesman’s flag for offside against Haber and it looked a harsh decision.
After that it was all downhill for Paul Hartley’s team.
That let-off seemed to spark the home team into life and, within a few minutes, Mark Reynolds, Johnny Hayes and Niall McGinn had all gone close.
In the 28th minute, after he’d turned Nick Ross inside out on the left-flank, McGinn’s tantalising cross was powerfully headed home by Dons skipper Ryan Jack and the writing was on the wall for Dundee.
In very big letters. Because after that opener it was pretty much oneway traffic towards Scott Bain’s goal for the rest of the evening.
Had Dundee been able to go in just one down at the interval, they might have had a chance of sorting things out and salvaging something from the game.
But right on the stroke of half-time, McGinn superbly controlled a long ball forward before hitting one of the goals of the season from 25 yards and the destination of the three points was settled.
McGinn headed another with 10 minutes left to round off a fine