Dons’ D sights on third as home hoodoo ended
aberdeen 3 Jackson (64 OG), Considine (66), Main (82) hibernian 1 Doidge (39)
Aberdeen can move back into third place with a win at Fir Park on Friday night.
But Dons manager Derek Mcinnes insists still being there on the last day of the season is all that matters.
It’s no surprise that he’s not getting too carried away as this was his side’s first league win at Pittodrie since victory over Livingston on Boxing Day.
Even then it took a second-half fightback to end a dismal run of four straight Premiership defeats at Pittodrie.
Andy Jackson’s own goal after 64 minutes, followed by Andrew Considine’s close-range finish two minutes later wiped out Christian Doidge’s first-half opener.
Then Curtis Main rounded off an eventually satisfying afternoon for Aberdeen with just seven minutes left.
It was enough to move them back to within a point of third place Motherwell but Mcinnes knows Steven Whittaker’s dismissal shortly before the equaliser was pivotal.
The experienced Hibs midfielder walked after fouls on Lewis Ferguson either side of half time. The Dons boss said: “I’m not interested in how the table looks just now.
“It’s so important we finish third at the end of the season and a club like Aberdeen should be playing meaningful games.
“We have got ourselves in this situation due to inconsistency and if we can mirror what we’ve done and keep winning the next game will become just as important.
“Whittaker’s sending off was a critical
moment but the intelligence of my team was what impressed me.
“We carried a threat in the wider areas, got pressure in the box and I’m delighted to win the game.
“We had it all to do in the second half and the players did it brilliantly.”
They certainly did after referee John Beaton had left them feeling frustrated with a couple of key decisions in the first half.
Aberdeen felt Doidge was offside when he ran on to Scott Allan’s defence-splitting pass to round Joe Lewis and score his 18th goal of the season.
The Welsh striker had only managed two when he was last at Pittodrie in October and blew several chances to score that day.
Hibs looked in control yesterday and would have been further ahead if it hadn’t been for Lewis denying both Doidge and Jamie Gullan earlier in the half.
The Dons were raging again when Ferguson was denied what looked like strong claims for a penalty just before the break. But Whittaker changed the game for the worse as far as the Easter Road side were concerned with a rash tackle