GOLDEN TOUCH
Cosgrove has Dons fans singing in the rain
THE Ballon D’Or chants went up for Sam Cosgrove from the 1,000-strong Aberdeen support.
Okay, this time last year he was out of a Carlisle team toiling in England’s fourth tier and now he is scoring winners for Aberdeen in the Scottish top flight.
A Young Player of the Month may be more realistic than anything too meteoric but let’s not spoil the fun while he was enjoying himself and Aberdeen fans were singing in the freezing, driving rain.
That’s six wins out of their last eight Ladbrokes Premiership games as the Dons moved ominously up to fourth place.
On a grotesque afternoon, Aberdeen’s players answered the half-time plea of manager Derek McInnes not to leave points behind ahead of another long trek home.
Cosgrove was key to that effort in the second 45. He was an all-round menace, softening up a Saints defence he scored twice against at Pittodrie in October.
Just turned 22, the surprise signing from League Two is starting to add goals to a raw game that is improving in tandem with his team rediscovering the consistency that served them well in recent campaigns.
Cosgrove gradually took over the game, imposing his will on the home defence, winning a host of free-kicks — in a contest branded ‘untidy’ by McInnes — to stop St Mirren gathering any comeback momentum after his goal.
At no stage did they handle his physical, hold-up threat and he took turns to delight in picking on the three centre-halves detailed to stop him.
Aberdeen had scored 15 times against St Mirren in the last four meetings between the clubs.
Conditions dictated that this was unlikely to be pretty or that they would run away with victory by scoring four like they did in two Pittodrie games earlier this season.
Nor were Saints going to suddenly sprout scoring wings. They tried to work Simeon Jackson in behind the excellent Andrew Considine and Scott McKenna early on.
But the striker’s habit of straying offside foiled the plan and, while McInnes admitted there was not much between the sides, his team at no point looked in danger of defeat.
Dean Lyness, making his St Mirren debut in place of the ineligible on-loan Dons keeper Danny Rogers, had precious little to do in the opening 25 minutes.
When his chance to impress did arrive, springing left to turn over a dangerously dipping Niall McGinn free-kick, the satisfaction did not last long.
From the resulting corner, Alfie Jones grappled Considine to the turf to concede the penalty and earn a caution. In for regular-taker Gary Mackay-Steven, Stevie May’s right-footed kick sent Lyness the wrong way.
No bad thing for May to benefit from the winger’s time out after suffering that serious head knock at Hampden earlier this month. This was the former St Johnstone man’s first strike since the 4-0 Betfred Cup win over St Mirren in August.
Saints used the set-piece route to get back into the game five minutes later. Adam Hammill appeared to be sizing up a strike yet fooled them all.
The clipped delivery into the heart of the area was picked up by Cammy MacPherson in full stride and he composed himself to slam low past a fuming Joe Lewis.
This was only a fourth start of the season for the Saints teenager and his best effort yet.
With MacPherson working off Stephen McGinn to go forward from the middle of the park, he was responsible for St Mirren moving and passing better early in the second half as they went forward.
This turned out to be only a brief thrill. For a couple of Aberdeen’s young leading lights started to shine through the Paisley gloom — Connor McLennan and Cosgrove.
His substitute role against Livingston in midweek earned McLennan a start and this was another bright showing.
A three-man move started with him and went through Cosgrove as May was threaded through on the keeper.
Lyness clawed away the shot but May made it much more simple for him than it should have been. It was a kind height for the keeper and too close to him.
A more confident striker would surely have drilled low and hard from the angle.
However, Aberdeen were to get their winner, with a set-piece again central to them finding joy.
Lyness produced a stunning save to force Considine’s header on to the crossbar from a McGinn delivery.
Cosgrove preyed on the rebound, stooping to nod home his fourth Dons goal.
‘Goals give strikers that added confidence,’ said McInnes. ‘Sam’s game is in a good place just now.
‘We want him to be relevant in the opposition box — and he and May getting on the scoresheet will do them no harm.
‘We said to the players at half-time that we were in danger of throwing points away. I asked them to make all the effort worthwhile in a scrappy game. That’s what we did.’