TENSION AND HEDGES
Supersub Ryan gives Dons a welcome lift after turbulent times
ST JOHNSTONE..0 ABERDEEN..1
SCOTT BURNS AT MCDIARMID PARK
RYAN HEDGES came off the bench to give Derek mcinnes and aberdeen a much-needed victory.
The Dons, after being put into self-isolation, came back and claimed their first win and points of the season in Perth.
The Welsh international took just three minutes after coming on to score the only goal of a stuffy encounter.
It was the perfect response to a turbulent few weeks after eight Dons players broke the coronavirus rules. Last night the manager had the majority of them back and he and his team could return to the day job of playing football.
McInnes said: “The character, resilience and effort of the team was outstanding.
“I couldn’t be more proud of them. I knew how much they wanted to get a result tonight.
“Getting those first three points of the season gets you up and running because the longer you don’t get them it becomes an issue.
“We are in separate changing rooms so I wanted to get the players on to the pitch after the game and remind them of what they’ve done getting three points. It hasn’t been easy on anyone.”
McInnes is actively trying to sign another forward and looks to be well-placed to sign former Inverness striker Marley Watkins on loan from Bristol City until January. He added:
“We have looked at a few different options, some have run away from us and some are closer.
“We are hopeful of landing something in the next day or two.”
The home team made two changes to the side that started the win at Kilmarnock, David Wotherspoon and Jamie McCart coming in for Craig Conway and Shaun Rooney.
The Pittodrie side welcomed back four of the eight players involved in the Covid-19 breaches but only Jonny Hayes got a start.
Craig Bryson, Matty Kennedy and Dylan McGeouch were on the bench, with Scott McKenna, Bruce Anderson,
Sam Cosgrove and Mikey Devlin still unavailable.
The Dons gave a debut to Ross McCrorie in a three-man defence and Tommie Hoban also made the first start of his second Pittodrie spell, with Andrew Considine suspended.
Aberdeen, unsurprisingly, were ring-rusty and the Perth side started brighter with Wotherspoon seeing his shot blocked by a defender.
The Dons struggled but Niall McGinn did have a dig from inside the box that was easily held by Elliott Parish.
Saints’ Callum Hendry hit the post with a shot but there was a handball in the build-up and the game was pulled back.
Aberdeen’s best move of the first period came in the 39th minute. Scott Wright broke and fed the ball wide to Hayes, who swung in a cross that Funso Ojo acrobatically hooked towards goals but fired wide.
McInnes sent on Connor McLennan and Kennedy at the interval with Ronald Hernandez and Dean Campbell the men to make way.
McLennan was employed through the middle with Lewis Ferguson dropping back into more natural surroundings.
It gave the away side more balance and allowed them to get more of a grip as Ferguson went into the book for a pull on Michael O’Halloran.
Jason Kerr’s free-kick was blocked and Scott Tanser’s shot deflected off a defender for a corner in a good spell for the home team. O’Halloran hit a shot that came off Ash Taylor before Liam Craig fired well over from distance.
But Aberdeen started to look more threatening. A good passing move ended with McGinn chipping weakly at Parish before Hoban headed wide.
The breakthrough came when sub Bryson found Hedges and he hit a shot that deflected off Liam Gordon and into the net. McInnes immediately took off Wright as he sent on Shay Logan to shore things up.
Saints boss Callum Davidson tried to mix things up by sending on Rooney and Isaac Olaofe but they couldn’t find a way past an Aberdeen team who not only had a lead but a cause to hang on to.
McCrorie was cautioned in the closing stages as the Dons held on. There may have been no fans to celebrate with but McInnes and his players went into a huddle to share what was a big moment.
Saints boss Davidson said: “We worked hard and limited Aberdeen to few chances so I was really pleased with that.
“In the first half we moved the ball well but the one criticism was the lack of quality in the final third.
“I was happy with the way we pressed and the discipline we showed. “Aberdeen defended well and we could say it was poor balls into the box but I won’t criticise them too much for that. “I don’t get too high with wins and too low with defeats.”