THAT’S BATTER

Del thrilled as Dons romp eases pain of Celtic rout

Aberdeen battered Killie’s makeshift central defence to set themselves up for a comfortable win.

Powerhouse strikers Curtis Main and Sam Cosgrove scored stunning first-half headers as Derek McInnes’ men cruised to the points.

Killie had headed north without four stoppers due to injury and suspension – so Rugby Park boss Angelo Alessio was forced to play midfielders Gary Dicker and Iain Wilson at the heart of his defence.

The Dons made the most of their inexperience at the back with thumping headers that put them in charge – then wrapped up the win with a late third from their own stopper Scott McKenna.

Aberdeen stretched their lead over Killie to four points and boss McInnes was left far happier than at the end of their last home outing, last Sunday’s 4- 0 thumping by Celtic.

Pittodrie chief McInnes said: “There is a lot to be pleased about today.

“We’ve scored three goals against a team like Kilmarnock who are normally very difficult to breach. It’s never easy against them.

“We went with a front two to try to take advantage of the challenges they had at centre-back.

“When we didn’t have the ball in the f irst hal f they had far too much possession for my liking but no one can deny we were the better team.

“We hit the post, should have had a penalty when Cosgrove was wiped out and got a third to add a bit of polish.

“It was good to get three goals and the clean sheet and I’m pleased to take the three points.”

The Dons were looking for some kind of momentum af ter a stop- star t beginning to the campaign.

They got it from Main, who opened the scoring in spectacular fashion with his first ever Aberdeen goal after 11 minutes.

His run into the Killie box was perfectly timed to beat the offside trap and his diving header was placed well out of the reach of Rugby Park keeper Laurentiu Branescu as it flew into the net.

Cosgrove’s power and determination paid off in 27 minutes as he grabbed his 16th goal of the season.

Ryan Hedges tapped a corner on the right to Niall McGinn and as the Northern Irishman swept the ball across goal, Cosgrove was there with a header to double the lead. With seconds of the first half remaining, Joe Lewis pulled off a stunning stop from an Alan Power thunderbolt as Killie did their best to keep their heads above water.

Five minutes after the restart Cosgrove picked up the ball just inside the area and fired a ferocious strike against the base of Kilmarnock keeper Branescu’s right-hand post.

Alessio’s men remained disciplined and organised but found the Pittodrie defence too difficult to breach and rarely ventured into their box.

At the other end, the Dons should have stretched their lead in the 68th minute through Connor McLennan, three minutes after the sub was thrown on for Michael Devlin.

But his cracking drive was somehow stopped by Branescu, who made a similar save from the young striker moments later.

The Killie keeper then somehow produced another miracle stop, this time from Lewis Ferguson’s angled effort.

Aberdeen sealed it with a third nine minutes from time as McKenna fired in an unstoppable volley for his first goal of the season.

McLennan’s ball from the left was flicked on by Greg Leigh and McKenna, powering in at the back post, wrapped up the win with his first goal since hitting the winner against Killie at Pittodrie in April.

Killie gaffer Alessio refused to use his shortage of stoppers as an excuse.

The Italian said: “We have no excuses. We conceded an easy goal and the second and third came from corners.

“We have to forget this game and prepare well for the match against Hamilton next week.

“We missed our four centre-backs but the goals we conceded were too easy.

“We tried to come back before halftime but couldn’t and then the third goal f inished the game. I put on another striker but we didn’t create any chances and we have to accept this defeat, as disappointing as it was.

“We can do better but we have to look ahead. It was a very difficult game for everyone but our keeper saved two or three opportunities. It is his job to save.”