DONS ARE DRIVEN BY THEIR EURO VISION
WATKINS AND FERGUSON DOWN COUNTY:
ABERDEEN might have tumbled out of the Europa League against illustrious opposition three days before, but the claim they’re staking for a repeat adventure next season grew in strength with this assured victory in Dingwall.
Marley Watkins’ first goal in his eighth appearance for the Pittodrie club came at the ground where, by coincidence, he broke his Inverness Caley Thistle duck in a Highland derby win back on February 25, 2014.
The header from a brilliant Jonny Hayes cross before the break was deserved on pressure and chances.
County’s hopes of recovery then imploded on the hour mark as Iain Vigurs saw red for a penalty-box trip on Ross McCrorie — and Lewis Ferguson slotted the second from the spot.
Midfielder Ferguson then added a third — again from 12 yards — to seal the victory that took Derek McInnes’ side to within two points of third-placed Hibs, with two games in hand.
Aberdeen’s admirable tilt at Sporting Lisbon last Thursday had drawn deserved plaudits following a narrow defeat. But the big question before kick-off was whether those Iberian endeavours would take the edge off energy levels.
Especially with the Dons seeking domestic recovery after the previous week’s shock 3-0 defeat at home to Motherwell, following six straight wins.
Ordinarily, the Red Army would have descended on Dingwall and given their team that extra hit of oxygen and adrenaline. Not these dark days.
But manager McInnes saw no need to make sweeping changes from the Portugeuese trip, with only two alterations in the starting line-up.
Reverting to a 3-4-3 shape, the Aberdeen boss drafted in the fresher legs of Niall McGinn for benched Shay Logan, while Dylan McGeouch dropped out for Scott Wright.
After a restorative victory away to St Johnstone last time out, home manager Stuart Kettlewell made just one enforced change, with injured Connor Randall vacating his rightback slot for veteran Keith Watson.
Striker Michael O’Connor, a new signing from Waterford, went straight onto the home bench.
With Aberdeen fatigue in mind, County would have hoped to come at them hard and fast from the first whistle.
Instead, it was the Dons who opened with aggressive energy and intent — creating two immediate chances and five in the opening ten minutes.
Inside the first minute, Hayes’ cross from the left was poorly dealt with and McGinn lifted a shot over the bar from a good position. McGinn was then sent racing through on the left and his low cutback had Wright clattering a strike off the right-hand post.
More pressure after six minutes saw home keeper Ross Laidlaw react quickly to beat Watkins to the ball after a McGinn cross spun up dangerously off home legs six yards out.
Moments later, McCrorie forced Laidlaw to save superbly, pushing the ball over the bar from a powerful 20-yard attempt from the midfielder.
McCrorie then turned sweetly on a Ryan Hedges pass into the box, but shot straight at Laidlaw.
County recovered composure and began to make some passes themselves, but the best efforts of Michael Gardyne on both flanks were resisted by some staunch away defending.
A lull in goalmouth action ensued, but County were spared by the upright for a second time after 32 minutes — this time the left-hand post — as McGinn, inside the ‘D’, tried a curling first-time strike from Hedges’ pass.
When it finally came three minutes before the break, Aberdeen’s lead was deserved.
It took a wonderful, instinctive swipe of the left boot from Hayes, 20 yards out on the far left, to catch the home defence napping. Watkins met it with a firm header eight yards out to break his goalscoring duck for the Dons.
County made a half-time change, with the more attack-minded Regan Charles-Cook on for Jordan Tillson, and a switch to a 4-2-3-1 formation.
The 23-year-old Londoner looked to make an early impression on 55 minutes with a fine curling cross finding Oli Shaw, who headed over from 12 yards.
County were then in serious trouble almost on the hour mark after a sweeping Dons attack saw Watkins thread forward a pass and home captain Vigurs trip McCrorie in the penalty area for a straight red card.
Ferguson calmly stroked the spot-kick into the bottom-left corner, with Laidlaw sent the wrong way.
Any hope of a home recovery was snuffed out after 76 minutes when Hayes’ cross was handled in the area by young defender Josh Reid.
Ferguson duly beat Laidlaw again, albeit with the keeper getting a touch on the ball on this occasion.
It was a damage-limitation exercise from there on in from the hosts, who slipped to seventh in the table on goal difference.
For Aberdeen, by contrast, there may be no limits on their European ambitions this season.