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Redweb Match Report..

01 September 2012

..third home stalemate of the season

Aberdeen fought out their third goalless game since the start of the season at Pittodrie. Despite having the better chances in the game and dominating possession for long spells, yet again the Dons couldn’t make the breakthrough and St Mirren got what they came for- a point.

Craig Brown fielded a younger team during the midweek friendly against Viking Stavanger but many of the senior players returned for the 5th league game of the campaign. Ryan Jack missed out through illness and was replaced at right back by Josh Magennis. Stephen Hughes returned to the side.

The opening spell was dominated by the home side as they tried to exploit St Mirren down the wings. An early cross from Johnny Hayes was cleared by Lee Mair but needed Graham Carey to fully avert the danger for the visitors.On 8 minutes Ryan Fraser sent in a fabulous cross looking for Scott Vernon but the Englishman wasn’t expecting it and couldn’t connect with any conviction.

Former Dons defender Mair then tackled Russell Anderson in midfield and from the resultant free kick Magennis crossed into the box but on this occasion Craig Sampson came to the rescue for the Buddies.

Aberdeen should have taken the lead when Isaac Osbourne’s corner was headed just past the post by Johnny Hayes. A short pass from Russell Anderson to Gavin Rae let Lewis Guy pick the ball up for St Mirren and Rae had to make a challenge to stop the visitors racing away up field.

The Dons were unusually shooting into the RDS end in the first half, and had another half chance when Ryan Fraser sent in a terrific delivery but Vernon and Hayes crashed into one another as they went to head the ball.

Hayes was at the centre of the action on 26 minutes- he found Isaac Osbourne with a superb pass but unfortunately for the Red Army Osbourne blasted the shot just over the bar. The Dons were dominating at this stage and a bursting run by Magennis set up Hayes who crossed into the box for Stephen Hughes but he couldn’t find the target with two attempts at it.

Another chance came the way of the home side soon after when a Hayes cross was nearly met by Vernon but was headed away and resulted in a couple of quick fire corners. On the second, Ryan Fraser swung it in, Magennis found space in the box and unleashed a shot- unfortunately it was cleared off the line or the Dons would have taken the lead.

St Mirren had offered little in an attacking sense but did manage a rare foray when Steven Thompson for once got the better of Andrew Considine and managed to get a cross in. Jamie Langfield- a mere spectator until this point- did well to read the danger and was down quick to collect the ball.

A short back pass from a defender left Craig Sampson in a bit of bother when Johnny Hayes looked to capitalise but the keeper did ok and averted the danger. Just a few seconds later though he spilled a Stephen Hughes cross and was lucky that there was no one there to capitalise for Aberdeen.

The visitors had a good chance on 41 minutes but David Van Zanten shot wide of the post while up the other end Magennis lashed a shot well wide of the goal a short time later. The Dons final chance of the half came after Hughes beat the offside trap and crossed towards Ryan Fraser who threw himself at the ball but couldn’t connect.

HT 0-0

Ryan Fraser was subject to some harsh treatment against Hearts in the previous league game and this continued in this one as the opposition tried to find a way of nullifying the youngster. Already subject to a few late challenges in the first period, he suffered another one just after the break but on this occasion referee Brian Colvin waived play on to the anger of the Red Army.

Gavin Rae then sent in a cross towards Fraser but Sampson gratefully grasped the cross and averted the impending danger. A short while later and Fraser was on the receiving end of another bad tackle, this time from David Van Zanten, who was cautioned by referee Colvin. The resulting free kick was floated in but cleared by Mair.

A great cross field ball was neatly collected by Magennis on 56 minutes and he produced a good cross. No one was in position for the Dons and Jim Goodwin cleared again for St. Mirren. David Van Zanten was then replaced by Danny Lennon- an acknowledgement that the defender was being run ragged by Fraser and would have been sent off had he stayed on the park.

The sting had disappeared from the Dons attack at this point with chances becoming rarer. Too many times Vernon found himself creating the chances rather than finishing them off and this was the case when he crossed into the box with no one there to capitalise. They did however get a chance when Sampson’s poor clearance landed at the feet of Hayes. His shot took a massive deflection however and went out for a corner.

To try and freshen things up for the Dons, Craig Brown made two substitutions in the space of a few minutes. Chris Clark replaced Stephen Hughes and Cammy Smith replaced Ryan Fraser.

And Smith nearly scored with one of his first touches. A superb cross from Hayes was headed on the stretch by Smith and he was unlucky to see it crash of the underside of the cross bar. The Dons weren’t getting much luck.

Chris Clark then fell victim to another bad tackle from St Mirren and it was Van Zanten’s replacement David Barron who found himself in the ref’s book on 73 minutes. The visiting captain, Jim Goodwin also found himself cautioned by referee Colvin when he blocked Cammy Smith. The Dons had picked the ball up after the tackle and the ref could have played the advantage but pulled it back for the free kick.

On 83 minutes, the Dons began to up the pressure again and had a superb chance.Isaac Osbourne’s ball into the box eventually fell to Smith but he slashed the shot wide of the left hand post. The home side continued to dominate possession without creating any real chances. That was until the 90th minute when the ball fell to Vernon in the box. Unfortunately for the Red Army he unleashed a wild shot that went over the bar. That was the Dons last meaningful attack and despite another good performance where they dominated, they failed to find the target at Pittodrie.

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