KILMARNOCK ABERDEEN

an early chance and it was the visitors who found themselves being called to defend as Killie’s pressure towards the Aberdeen goal intensified.

Lewis was not tested but there were enough balls bouncing in the Aberdeen box to cause some nervous moments and by the 20 minute mark the Dons boss decided to tweak his system and revert to a back four with McLennan dropping back to full back.

It is a measure of how much the teams were struggling to threaten in an attacking sense that it took until the 38th minute for the first corner of the night to come but sadly it wasn’t worth the wait as Killie cleared the danger.

Remarkably, we were then treated to a goal of real quality and it was the home side who got it two minutes before the break.

Chris Burke swung in a ball from the right which was not cleared by the Dons defence and when the ball spun high in the air Mohamed El Makrini beat Lewis with an acrobatic overhead kick from eight yards to give the home side the lead.

It was a measure of the predicament facing the Dons that the manager made a triple substitution for the start of the second half with Shay Logan, Dean Campbell and Sam Cosgrove replacing

Dylan McGeouch, Connor McLennan and Craig Bryson.

It was also clear words had been exchanged in the Dons dressing room during the interval as Aberdeen emerged with a sense of urgency and intent to try to turn this vital tie around.

The difference was startling with the Dons getting the ball forward early, finding space out wide and getting deliveries into the box.

Aberdeen had no option but to commit men forward and it left gaps which Killie were eager to exploit and they spurned a great chance to put the tie beyond the Dons in the 63rd minute when Gary Dicker sent Brophy clear on goal but Lewis did well to save the striker’s effort.

The second half had become a classic cup tie and Niall McGinn fired just wide of the post as Aberdeen continued to push for an equaliser while another Killie break ended with Brophy curling a Stephen O’Donnell cross wide.

With the seconds ticking away it looked as if Aberdeen’s cup dream was coming to an end but Andy Considine had

SPOT ON: Sam Cosgrove, left, scores to make it 3-3 in extra time during Aberdeen’s Scottish Cup fifth-round replay