Aberdeen discover winning formula
PAGES 80-81
AS the fourth official put up his board, Jonny Hayes started to trot wearily over from the left wing to the near touchline. With 16 minutes left on the clock, the influential Irishman offered a final wave and clap in the direction of the travelling Aberdeen fans as he prepared to make way for substitute Wes Burns.
However, when Hayes reached the far side, he soon realised that the number on the board was, in fact, Niall McGinn’s 10 rather than his 11.
Three minutes later, the diminutive winger was galloping down the right, leaving Dundee left-back Kevin Holt for dead before putting in a killer cross for substitute Jayden Stockley to power Aberdeen into a 2-1 lead.
The goal that broke the deadlock put the Dons on the road to a vital victory at the start of a huge week for Aberdeen.
First, Derek McInnes’ men welcome St Johnstone in the Betfred Cup quarter-finals on Thursday night. Then there’s the small matter of next Sunday’s first visit of Rangers to Pittodrie in five years.
Not since Kyle Lafferty and Nikica Jelavic’s penalty secured a 2-1 win for Ally McCoist’s side in October 2011, despite a consolation by Richard Foster, have the two fierce rivals squared up in the Granite City.
Thanks to their late show at Dens Park, Aberdeen go into the hotly-anticipated encounter with the psychological advantage of being above Mark Warburton’s strugglers and into fourth courtesy on goal difference.
Even if Hayes joked that McInnes’ tactical switch that ensured the morale-boosting victory had been a touch serendipitous.
‘I thought I was coming off and I was applauding the fans — but then I stayed on the pitch on the right,’ said a smiling Hayes.
‘But I’m sure the gaffer will put (the switch of sides) down to a masterstroke by himself. But, seriously, we have great flexibility and freedom in this team and you saw that today.
‘It was a good result for us ahead of a massive week. We’ve had a couple of disappointing draws but this win makes for a bright start to an important week for the football club.’
Aberdeen bossed the opening stages, with Andrew Considine having a header cleared off the line by Dundee captain Darren O’Dea.
But the home side took the lead with a team goal of real quality. A fine flowing move featuring Nick Ross, Faissal El Bakhtaoui and Paul McGowan ended with Ross deftly flicking the ball into the path of Holt. The left-back drilled low and hard beyond Joe Lewis.
But the Dons showed character to find parity within five minutes. After a slack pass out of defence by Holt, the ball ended up at the feet of the exquisitely tricky James Maddison. The on-loan Norwich City kid sent a 20-yarder goalwards with his left foot, which Scott Bain made a hash of as it squirmed under his body and into the net. As Aberdeen probed for a second, Graeme Shinnie saw a 20-yard shot crash back off the bar.
Fearing yet another draw, McInnes (right) sent on Wes Burns and Stockley — and promptly won the game.
After Stockley rose high above Julen Etxabeguren to power home Hayes’ cross, Etxabeguren was harshly adjudged to have felled Burns in the box with two minutes remaining. Kenny McLean’s penalty hit the underside of the bar, before bouncing back up and hitting the underside of the bar again, before finally nestling in the net. ‘I felt we had got into a lull and something had to change,’ explained McInnes. ‘We were not carrying the threat we had in the first half. ‘It’s always difficult taking off a goalscorer like Adam Rooney when you are needing a goal, but we brought people here like Stockley and Burns because we have been too reliant on Adam for nearly three seasons. ‘I felt a lot of our play today was outstanding and we had some really top performers. Wee James Maddison was excellent but he was in good company because McLean and Shinnie were outstanding, and Hayes and McGinn lit up the game, too.’ It got worse for Dundee when they were reduced to 10 men in the dying stages. Already on a yellow for a foul on Shay Logan, midfielder Mark O’Hara was issued with a red for hauling down Shinnie.
‘I think there were too many yellow cards,’ said Dundee boss Paul Hartley of the eight cautions issued by referee Steven McLean.
‘I don’t think there was a bad challenge in the game. Mark has made two challenges but they are not nasty challenges. I think players are getting sent off for very little these days. It was the last minute and maybe there could be some common sense.’
Hartley was also aggrieved by the award of the late penalty but hailed his side’s display as one of their best in weeks.
‘It wasn’t a penalty,’ he insisted. ‘Julen wins the ball. I don’t think we deserved to lose 3-1. I thought we played well and it was a good game of football.
‘I thought we were comfortable in the second half but we made a couple of mistakes at their equaliser.
‘First, we didn’t clear our lines and Scott Bain has got to do better with the shot. Nine times out of 10 he will save that and he knows he should have done better. But we are not here to crucify anybody. We win as a team and lose as a team.’