Rooney keeps his cool to bag points for below-par Dons
DEREK McINNES has worked miracles at Aberdeen this season to steer them on course for a domestic double.
But better performances than they produced to defeat St Mirren will be required to land them silverware.
It might have been another victory to keep the Pittodrie club in the running to finish second in the League.
But they were far from their best against a struggling Saints side that have now recorded seven defeats in their past nine matches.
With that in mind, the writing must surely be on the wall for Danny Lennon, with still no sign of a contract offer and his current deal expiring in the summer.
McInnes, though, has no such worries as a result of the way he has turned around the fortunes of the Dons.
They have already secured a League Cup Final showdown with Caley Thistle, and are now favourites to lift the Scottish Cup after
The penalty was a massive call from the referee
eliminating Celtic from the competition last weekend.
Winning matches when you are far from your best is regarded as a good trait for any team. Undoubtedly, though, his players will have to make massive improvements for bigger and more stringent tests.
Both bosses were forced to make changes from last weekend’s contrasting Cup results, with Aberdeen aiming to build on their victory over Celtic and St Mirren looking to bounce back from defeat at Dundee United.
The visitors were deprived the services of influential duo Barry Robson and Jonny Hayes — the latter only ruled out of the starting line-up after experiencing back pain on the bus journey to Paisley.
Saints were without the suspended Marc McAusland, which resulted in captain Jim Goodwin moving back to the heart of the defence.
It was, however, as uneventful a first- half as the top flight is likely to have produced this season, with
quality very much in short supply. The onus — considering they are aiming to win both domestic Cup competitions and with aspirations of finishing second in the League — had to be on McInnes’ men to deliver more attractive football than they did in the first-half.
While the windy conditions certainly did not make it any easier, it was desperate stuff throughout the opening 45 minutes, with both bosses entitled to demand more of their players after the break.
And that certainly looked like being the case with the home side immediately producing the first proper attempt at goal as Steven Thompson flashed a volley wide.
Paul McGowan was then sent clear through on goal, only to have been flagged offside, before Aberdeen then conjured up their first actual attempt on goal with Russell Anderson’s header forcing a reaction save from Marian Kello.
Niall McGinn was then only a fraction away from getting on the end of Andrew Considine’s flick-on towards the back post.
But the Dons were beginning to get a foothold in the game, and Nicky Low forced a fine low save from Marian Kello.
From the resulting corner, a rash tackle from the sluggish Eric Djemba-Djemba on Peter Pawlett earned Aberdeen a spot-kick which Adam Rooney stepped up to convert with just 10 minutes remaining.
It was a massive call from referee Calum Murray as the challenge appeared to be right on the 18-yard line with TV replays still prompting both camps to disagree on the key decision.