Dundee Utd 1
Aberdeen 1
League (Premier Division)

Match Report

The emphasis being given to youth continued with Allan Preston, Ray McKinnon and Paddy Connolly all retaining their places. In fact the only change from the side which lost at lbrox was the re-introduction of Miodrag Krivokapic, who had missed the Rangers game through injury. The Yugoslav replaced John Clark in defence. Aberdeen had the better of the early play and Charlie Nicholas shot over after Van Der Ark had headed the ball down to the former Arsenal striker. Three minutes later, however, another Van Der Ark assist brought the Dons the opening goal. A flowing move down the left saw Connor hoist a long diagonal ball to the right, Van Der Ark headed the ball down and Paul Mason gratefully swept it into the net, Gradually we forced our way back into the match and Paddy Connolly shot the ball over after Mixu Paatelainen headed down a free-kick by Freddy Van Der Hoorn. Darren Jackson then saw his shot deflected for a corner and an acrobatic volley by Dave Narey flashed past the far post. The Dons reminded us that they were dangerous on the break when another searching diagonal ball from deep found Van Der Ark, but fortunately his low shot slipped fractionally past the far post. Our best spell of the match came in the five minute spell before half-time when Darren Jackson pounced on a flick from Mixu Paatelainen, ran in on goal and cut inside before firing in a powerful shot which was just too high. The first 45 minutes ended with us forcing a spate of corners which yielded little or no threat to Watt in goal.

Aberdeen opened the second half in determined mood and twice could have sealed the match. in each instance, however, the chance fell to Brian Grant and both went abegging. First of all he dwelt on the ball too long before getting in a shot which Alan Main saved and the second opportunity was lost when the ball struck one of his own colleagues. These misses were quickly punished. Almost immediately Allan Preston and Maurice Malpas combined on the left and Allan quickly returned a cross back into the middle. Paddy Connolly flicked it on and Jim McInally stole in at the far post to push the bouncing ball over the line with the sole of his boot. A minute later Darren Jackson headed a Jim McInally free-kick past. From thereon scoring opportunities rarely materialised though Gillhaus did get in behind the defence, only to see Alan Main brilliantly parry the Dutchman's fierce drive. It was all Dutchmen who figured in the disciplinary stakes. Van Der Ark booked for persistent fouling in the first half, argued too persistently over a penalty claim in the second was shown a red card. Meanwhile Freddy Van Der Hoorn was cautioned for a flying tackle on his fellow countryman and friend Hans Gillhaus. Despite lacing only ten men in the latter stages, we failed to take advantage and so had to settle for a draw, which at least had the merit of maintaining our unbeaten home record.