Scottish Premier League - Saturday, 1st May 2010
Pittodire [sic] Stadium, Aberdeen
Aberdeen suffered yet another embarrassing defeat at Pittodrie this afternoon. It was a match in which almost nothing went right for the Dons. Flavio Paixao put Hamilton ahead inside a minute, before Wesolowski and a Mensing penalty increased the deficit in the second half. Foster and Diamond’s second yellows made it 10 reds in what has been an utterly disastrous season. Young did grab a late consolation but it did little to ease the torrent of abuse sent his team’s way come the full time whistle.
Aberdeen got off to the worst possible start this gloomy north east afternoon. Flavio Paixao finding himself in enough space to head past Langfield from an Imrie corner, after just 50 seconds! The visitors pushed on for a second and nearly got in the fifth minute, Paixao again causing problems. The goal scorer beat Mulgrew on the by-line, but fortunately over hit his cross. Aluko reminded everyone there were two teams playing in the eighth minute, his shot from the edge of the box flying wide.
Hamilton though, were dominating the opening stages and went close again in the ninth minute. A free kick from 25 yards was not fully cleared by the Dons defence, allowing an effort from the corner of the box which went just wide of Langfield’s post. Aberdeen created their first real chance two minutes later. Aluko beat his man on the wing and delivered a low ball in for MacLean who couldn’t quite get there before Canning who cleared the danger. In the 13th minute, Hamilton came close again. McClenahan found space in the Aberdeen box, but had to stretch and sliced his shot high into the Richard Donald.
Mulgrew went for an ambitious shot from 30 yards with a free kick in the 16th minute, but the defender’s attempt was straight at the keeper. Mulgrew was involved again a minute later, shimmying past a man on the wing, he chipped a lovely cross in to the back post; unfortunately, nobody was there to meet it. The 21st minute saw Imrie cut inside from the right unchallenged, and test Langfield with an awkward bouncing shot. The Accies then turned physical; Flavio Paixao was given a talking to for standing on Grassi’s foot. The incident seemed to rile the Italian, who was booked a few minutes later for arguing.
Aluko swung in a great corner in the 32nd minute, but Grassi’s looping header went over the bar. Paixao attempted an acrobatic overhead kick in the 35th minute, luckily though, he did not connect properly and missed the target. Duff seemed to trip over the ball a minute later, forcing a quick reaction from Langfield to prevent Paixao pouncing. Aberdeen had a great chance on the break in the 42nd minute. With players streaming forward, Kerr rolled a trademark misplaced pass straight to the feet of a defender, ending the move.
Hamilton started the second half much the same way as they started the first. The visitors doubled their lead just four minutes into the half. Wesolowski was given too much space at the near post and headed Imrie’s cross in via the woodwork. Even two goals up, Hamilton were still doing all the attacking, waltzing through the Dons defence at will; they had a goal disallowed for offside in the 54th minute. The frustration was showing in the players as Duff was booked for a rash challenge in the 56th minute. A minute later Duff conceded a penalty for a foul on Wesolowski. Langfield dived the right way put could not reach Mensing’s spot kick, low to his left.
The Lanarkshire outfit were cruising now as the fans poured out of the ground. It could have been four on the hour mark. Wesolowski breaking down the right, forced Langfield to pull off a good save to stop the score line going from humiliating to ridiculous. Robertson then made his debut for the Dons, replacing the largely ineffective Aluko in the 64th minute. Langfield was called into action again in the 68th minute, after a defensive error let Paixao in; the keeper had to be quick off his line to smother the danger. A minute later, Fyvie replaced Kerr, who was having a shocker; his departure was met with loud sarcastic cheers and boos from the home fans.
Aberdeen went down to 10 men in the 70th minute. Foster, having been booked in the aftermath of the penalty, was shown a second yellow for a late challenge on Paixao. Diamond was then booked for dissent, as he accused Marco Paixao of a stamp. Hamilton then went close again in the 76th minute before things went from disastrous to even more disastrous for the Dandies. Diamond was shown his second yellow for a tackle from behind in the 83rd minute and joined Foster for an early bath. There could not have been much more than a couple of thousand fans left by this stage, but they were rewarded with a consolation goal in the 85th minute. After a decent bit of play down the left, Young broke into the box and fired a powerful effort high into the net. Neither side created anymore chances as the match drew to a disappointing close.
The final whistle was met by angry boos from the few remaining fans who had stayed to avoid the crowds. Aberdeen, who never looked in the game and had just 43 percent of the possession, are now unable to catch Hamilton for eighth place. McGhee seems to be feeling the pressure as well after walking out of a post match interview. Whether he stays or not, what funds are available in the summer will most likely be affected by a fine for the poor disciplinary record this season. On a positive note, we are one game closer to the end of the season!
Ronaldanho
Danny McKay won RedTV's Junior Reporter competition: click here
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