…as Dons crash out of cup.

Aberdeen crashed out of the Scottish Cup tonight and once again it was to a team from a lower division. The only goal of the match came in the 58th minute when Walker went down the right far too easily, skinned Ifil and cut the ball across the face of the goal allowing Tade to tap in. Aberdeen then laid siege to the Rovers goal for about ten minutes then appeared to run out of ideas and the first division side ran out deserved winners in the end. So from the high of Saturday Aberdeen crashed to the depths of despair in only three days as their last chance of silverware slipped away to the sound of ecstatic Raith Rovers fans celebrating in the South Stand.

The Dons missed Charlie Mulgrew who pulled out with illness. Zander had to go off at half time also due to illness. However Raith had to do without captain Mark Campbell who was involved in a serious car accident the day before the game (we all wish him well) and Douglas Hill who limped out of the warm up.

Raith Rovers kicked off as the rain continued to fall on a miserable evening. Aberdeen won a free kick in the third minute, but Aluko’s delivery failed to get beyond the first defender, but seconds later there was a real stramash in the Raith box, but no one could convert. MacLean forced McGurn into action in the fifth minute as a sweet volley was palmed away by the keeper and then a defender completed the clearance. Two minutes later MacLean fired the ball across the face of the goal and although it just eluded Mackie it had been a positive start by the home side.

Aluko ran at the Raith defence in the 8th minute before he was outnumbered and then the visitor’s enjoyed a short spell of pressure without threatening. Aluko had another poor delivery in the 14th minute then four minutes later Ifil put his head in where it hurts to clear a dangerous through ball. At the other end MacLean almost set up McDonald before Aberdeen won the first corner in the 21st minute when Raith failed to clear their lines. Again the ball failed to clear the first defender then Raiths’ Russell picked up a nasty knock in a 50-50 challenge with Mackie.

The player tried to come back on, but he lasted less than a minute and was substituted by Darren Smith. Aberdeen won another corner in the 26th minute and a second quickly followed. The ball was never quite cleared and when Paton fired it back into the box Diamond headed tamely at the keeper. A Raith free kick failed to threaten Langfield then on the half hour mark another free kick from Aluko failed to test the Raith defence. Rovers almost took the lead in the 34th minute when Langfield made a terrific save from Darren Smith when he dived to his left to turn the ball on to the post.

After the positive start Aberdeen were beginning to look nervous and Darren Smith again caused problems for the Dons defence as Raith were enjoying their best spell of the match. Aberdeen built up a head of steam towards the interval and Mackie headed inches wide in the 43rd minute. Despite two minutes added for the injury to Russell the home side failed to create any more chances and Mark McGhee had some work to do at the interval.

Zander Diamond, who like Charlie Mulgrew had been ill prior to the match, was replaced by Derek Young at the interval. His first contribution was to win a free kick on the right and from the set play the Dons won the first corner of the half. Paton then won a free kick on the edge of the box and Aluko touched the ball to MacLean and the forward fired his shot straight at the keeper. Tade collected the first yellow card of the game in the 55th minute for a late challenge on Paterson then a last minute tackle denied Paterson who had worked his way into the box.

Tade went from villain to hero in the 58th minute when he opened the scoring after Walker far too easily went down the right, skinned Ifil and cut the ball across the face of the goal allowing Tade to tap in. Aberdeen tried to hit back and a cross from Aluko in the 63rd minute was missed by Mackie then a minute later the referee had a word with the Aberdeen bench as they protested about the time wasting of the visitor’s. Aluko did well tackling back in the 67th minute and releasing Paton who ran at the Raith defence, but he only had MacLean to pick out in the middle.

A minute later Young fired inches wide from 20 yards with the keeper rooted to the spot. Rovers were defending in numbers now as Aberdeen bombarded their goal. Another corner followed in the 71st minute when Aluko’s shot was deflected wide. The ball was cleared then Kerr attempted an ambitious effort from 25 yards that went well wide. The Rovers bookings were starting to mount as Murray and Ferry joined Tade in the book. Aberdeen were struggling to break through and Paterson fired over in the 78th minute. At the other end Raith won a corner and as it was cleared Aluko did well to play it on to Mackie, but he delayed and couldn’t get the ball through to MacLean in the middle.

Paterson was booked two minutes later when he bundled substitute Weir to the ground. Aberdeen couldn’t get a head of steam up and Rovers were keeping the ball in the corners quite successfully. McDonald won a free kick in the 84th minute, but the ball was won by a defender and easily cleared. Aluko then won a corner in the 88th minute as time slipped away. The set play came to nothing as Rovers comfortably held their lead. The fourth official held up three minutes of injury time for the Dons to try and save themselves from another embarrassing exit. In the final minute Langfield sent a long ball forward, but again it was cleared and the Dons crashed out of the cup.