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Dons On Cup Trail Again.

31 October 2007

Nicholson hat trick seals win

Aberdeen can look forward to their first semi final in seven years when they go into the pot tomorrow. A Barry Nicholson hat trick sunk a resilient Inverness side at Pittodrie. Two penalty kicks set the Dons on their way when first Young then Miller were tripped in the box. Michael Fraser then gifted Miller the third on the stroke of half time to put the Dons on easy street. Aberdeen switched off after the break and it came as no surprise when Bayne pulled one back. However Nicholson claimed his hat trick when he turned an excellent Chris Clark cross past Fraser for a fine 4-1 win.

With Scott Severin missing through injury it was Michael Hart who took the captains armband as the Dons kicked off in front of a rather sparse crowd. The visitors made a positive start without threatening Langfield’s goal, but Aberdeen were soon venturing forward with Sone Aluko causing problems to the Inverness back four. Aberdeen went ahead in the tenth minute after Derek Young showed some quick feet and forced the illegal challenge from Hastings deep inside the Inverness box. John Underhill had no hesitation in pointing at the spot and Barry Nicholson stepped up and drilled the ball past Fraser to hand the Dons an early lead.

Aberdeen almost doubled their advantage two minutes later when Aluko won a free kick wide on the left. Nicholson whipped the ball in and Young timed his run perfectly, but headed inches over. Aluko then played an exquisite 1-2 with Jamie Smith, but the return was just a little wayward and the threat was cleared while at the other end Diamond had to look smart to clear from Wyness. Two minutes later Jamie Smith went close when he cut in from the left and curled a shot inches wide. Aberdeen’s pressure paid off in the 20th minute when Lee Miller won a second penalty.

Miller burst into the Inverness penalty area and headed for the bye line before being upended by McCaffrey. Once again Underhill pointed to the spot and Nicholson again beat Fraser to make it 2-0. Inverness rolled up their sleeves and they almost pulled one back on the half hour mark but once again Diamond was on hand to block. From the resultant corner Duncan fired wide from the edge of the box. Seconds later Clark replaced Derek Young who looked to have picked up a knock. Aberdeen won two quick corners in the 37th minute but the Inverness defence held firm. Five minutes from the break Langfield once again showed his class with an excellent save from a Duncan pile driver.

Inverness finished the half strongly and Aberdeen had a lot of defending to do to maintain their two-goal advantage. Nicholson went close to claiming his hat trick in the 43rd minute when he drilled a low shot from the edge of the box inches wide of the post. Aberdeen killed the tie off in the final minute of the first half when Inverness keeper Michael Fraser committed a howler that allowed Lee Miller to tap the ball into the empty net. The keeper was given a difficult pass back but he had controlled it well on his chest then instead of clearing he dawdled on the ball allowing Miller to nip in and score.

Inverness to their credit continued to look for a goal and they won a corner in the 51st minute that was well defended. The visitor’s went close in the 56th minute as Wyness headed straight down the throat of Langfield. Aberdeen were offering little at this stage and appeared to be happy to let Inverness come at them. Jamie Smith went down with what looked like a serious injury in the 57th minute and Foster quickly replaced him. Inverness should have done better in the 63rd minute when Hastings cut the ball back into the path of Wyness but he failed to threaten Langfield.

Wyness should have scored in the 68th minute when he found space on the edge of the box but fired over. The inevitable happened seconds later when Diamond lost possession on the right allowing Bayne to step forward and drill the ball past Langfield. The visitor’s almost added a second a minute later when a Tokely shot was deflected inches past the post. Minutes later Aluko released Foster on the left and the Inverness keeper did well to block the cross. Considine replaced Aluko in the 73rd minute as Calderwood looked to shore things up at the back.

A McNamara shot was deflected for a corner in the 75th minute and Munro was forced to clear a Diamond header from the resultant corner. Aberdeen restored their three-goal advantage in the 78th minute when Considine started the move from deep in his own half. He spread the ball out to Chris Clark, who shrugged off one challenge and delivered a perfect cross for Nicholson to secure his hat trick. Inverness made a triple substitution in an attempt to turn round their fortunes, but it looked to be too little to late.

Aberdeen went close to making it five in the 86th minute when Miller tried to steer a Clark cross into the net, but Fraser made a fine save. Three minutes later Duncan fire a shot wide then in the 90th minute Langfield made a world class stop low to his right to deny substitute Niculae. Prior to this Chris Clark had made a fine run but failed to get power behind his shot and Fraser saved easily.

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