Cosgrove rises to see off Saints
ST MIRREN 1 ABERDEEN 2
IN gruelling conditions it seemed inevitable that the game played out in Paisley would be in synchrony with the freezing rain and grim skies. It was not pretty but it was effective as Aberdeen took all three points from St Mirren to leapfrog Hearts courtesy of a 60th-minute winner from Sam Cosgrove which gave the Pittodrie side all the warmth they needed.
“It was a really scruffy game,” said Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes. “We didn’t get it all our own way. There wasn’t much in it but we just about deserved it.”
The Pittodrie manager, though, believes the quality of performance has not been helped by the volume of league games scheduled for December.
“It is nuts,” he said. “We have had nine games – eight league games and the League Cup final. We played 14 in four months. So 14 wasn’t enough. Now we are playing more than half of that in one month. We agreed with Jim McIntyre and Dundee. We would push the Dundee game back to January but the league would not allow it. So we do what we are told and get on with it but it is a game every three days for my players.”
For St Mirren, it was another chance lost. Oran Kearney’s side remain rooted to the foot of the table and the Northern Irishman’s body language at times betrayed the pressure of the position. The Saints manager was embroiled in a debate with the fourth official throughout and could not hide his irritation when the referee blew the final whistle, believing he had been robbed of some vital seconds.
On this evidence, St Mirren could have played for some time without scoring. On an afternoon when there was little between the teams it was the hosts’ lack of bite in the final third that proved to be their undoing.
Aberdeen had taken the lead just after the half-hour mark from the spot after debutant goalkeeper Dean Lyness had punched a Niall McGinn free- kick over the bar. From the resultant corner Alfie Jones seemed to t ug t he j ersey of Andrew Considine, with referee Greg Aitken giving the penalty. Stevie May duly dispatched it for only his second goal of the season.
“I haven’t seen it back but I wasn’t 100 per cent convinced on a day like today it was a penalty,” said Kearney.
To their credit, St Mirren forced their way back into it. Cammy MacPherson netted his first goal for the senior side when Adam Hammill’s free-kick found a way through the Aberdeen defence. As the ball broke to MacPherson he took his time before sending his effort past Joe Lewis to give Saints a lifeline.
For Aberdeen, seven wins from their last 10 games has elevated them back up the table. Remarkably, the Pittodrie side were 13 points behind Hearts just seven weeks ago and have now leapfrogged Craig Levein’s men and still have a game in hand.
If there was a silver lining to the cloud for St Mirren it came in the form of keeper Lyness.
The keeper was signed in the summer on a short-term deal until January and was handed the gloves with Danny Rogers ineligible to play against his parent club. Lyness pulled off a decent save from Andrew Considine in the build-up to what proved to be Aberdeen’s winner. As the keeper punched the header onto the bar, the St Mirren defence were caught ball-watching as Cosgrove pounced to convert the rebound.