ABERDEEN saw their unbeaten run under new boss Craig Brown come to an end at Celtic Park today - but they'll have plenty of confidence going into next weekend's CIS Cup semi.
Despite the loss, the Dons gave as good as they got against Celtic, particularly in the second half when Chris Maguire and Nikola Vujadinović came closest to getting what would've been a deserved draw for the Dons.
The winning goal came in the first half an hour when the solid Dons defence switched off for the only time during the game to let in the scourge of AFC, Anthony Stokes, to round the excellent Jamie Langfield and score.
The Greatest Fans In The World were given a chance to contort their grotesque coupons into the traditional Gurn Of Perceived Injustice after a ridiculous 'backpass' incident, initially given as a free-kick to Celtic, was correctly sorted out by the otherwise completely Celtic-biased referee Iain Brines.
Stokes could've made it 2-0 on 40 minutes, but Langfield earned his week's wage with a superb reaction save to keep the shot out.
The second half was far more even than the first; in fact the Dons had most of the territorial advantage, particularly late in the game, with the Greatest Fans In The World turning on their heroes as they played backs-to-the-wall football to keep the advancing Reds at bay.
However, despite Josh Magennis causing some mayhem in the home team's defence, and Celtic having a couple of chances on the counter-attack, the game ended with the Celtic fans far happier to hear the final whistle.
Despite the disappointing result, Dons fans will be delighted with the spirit and guts of their team as they head into the CIS Cup semi final against the same team next week.
Click here for full match report: http://www.aberdeen-mad.co.uk/news/loadrprt.asp?cid=MTCH&id=623738
