Logan leaves Dons jumping for joy despite an early scare
SHAY LOGAN insists that it is nothing personal, but Staggies fans may disagree after seeing their team dumped by the Dons defender yet again at the Global Energy Stadium.
Logan continued his scoring streak against Ross County yesterday when he struck in the 71st minute to secure a deserved victory.
It was his fourth goal in four appearances in Dingwall and made up for his mistake that led to County’s second-minute opener.
Add two more goals at Pittodrie and it’s not difficult to see why Logan is in grave danger of becoming Public Enemy No 1 in this part of the Highlands.
But he was at a loss to explain why he finds it so easy to score against Jim McIntyre’s side.
‘There’s no reason I can think of other than they have become my team,’ he said. ‘But after the start I made conceding the free-kick that led to their goal, scoring the winner was all the sweeter.
‘I put my hands up at half-time for the mistake but, even after that, I thought I was going to get at least one chance.’
Despite almost totally dominating the second half after being forced to come from a goal behind to make it two Premiership wins out of two, Aberdeen were very nearly denied by virtually the last kick of an absorbing contest.
County substitute Jim O’Brien came within inches of firing a 90th-minute leveller when he shot from 30 yards.
The Dons players’ hearts missed a beat when O’Brien’s howitzer cannoned off the crossbar.
Craig Curran gave the home side the lead and visiting defender Mark Reynolds equalised midway through the first half.
But had O’Brien snatched a point from the jaws of a second defeat in four days, it would been a bit of a travesty, all things considered.
Aberdeen fielded their latest signing, Stevie May and the former St Johnstone, Sheffield Wednesday and Preston star can feel pleased with his debut.
The 24-year-old replaced Nicky Maynard in the starting line-up, with the latter dropping to the substitutes’ bench alongside fellow striker Adam Rooney.
While May was making his debut, the match marked defender Andy Considine’s 400th competitive appearance for the Dons.
Both teams made encouraging starts to the campaign, County beating Dundee away and Aberdeen recording a home win against Hamilton, whom they also beat in midweek to reach the last eight of the Betfred Cup.
County, on the other hand, exited the competition following an extra-time loss at home to Motherwell, who will now meet Aberdeen in the quarter-finals.
The home side, who had former Inverness midfielder Ross Draper making his debut, were quick to serve notice of their intent and Aberdeen’s attempts at keeping the opposition at bay were sloppy to say the least.
There were only 82 seconds on the clock when County took the lead through the astute positioning by Curran and an apparent lack of awareness on the part of Aberdeen’s central defenders.
Chris Routis’ free-kick should have been dealt with but Curran was able to get his head to the ball after being left unmarked in the centre of the penalty box.
County continued to pose a threat and Routis posted a warning that possesses a powerful shot when he conjured one up out of very little, missing the target by a foot or so.
That appeared to act as a wake-up call of sorts, and Dons midfielder Kenny McLean brought a save from Scott Fox.
Having stepped up their game, Aberdeen were rewarded with an equaliser in the 23rd minute.
Greg Tansey’s corner was steered in Reynolds’ direction by Considine and the centre-back hit a volley past Fox from 15 yards.
Aberdeen’s defending continued to be frantic at times and Jason Naismith should have done better with a chance provided by Michael Gardyne than screw his shot wide.
County were also forced to resort to desperate measures to deny Aberdeen the lead eight minutes after the restart.
Graeme Shinnie punished Andrew
Davies’ poor pass out of defence, releasing May to chip the ball to the back post, where Greg Stewart lingered with intent.
Stewart’s resultant header was saved by Fox before Davies atoned for his error by sweeping the ball clear before the Aberdeen attacker could pounce.
Tansey acquired a reputation for scoring from set-pieces for his previous club and he showed that he has lost none of his power when he forced another save from Fox.
May, following up, had a chance to instantly impress Dons fans but managed to scoop the ball over from almost point-blank range.
But Aberdeen’s persistence paid off when they scored the second goal they have been threatening for most of the half.
Logan positioned himself at the back post to get on the end of Gary Mackay-Steven’s cross and was able to find the target with his header under pressure from Fox and Kenny van der Weg.