match report

Elgin City 2 | Harkins 36′ Sutherland 55′

Aberdeen U20s 1 | McManus 21′

Borough Briggs | Tuesday 23rd July |

Neil Cooper’s young side once again this evening put in a very good performance against SPFL opposition but went down narrowly 2-1.

Aberdeen started the game strongly and Declan McManus had a couple of chances, as did Cammy Smith. On 21 minutes the young Dons took the lead. Stephen O’Neill, who was once again outstanding in the middle of the park, changed the play with a long cross field pass. He found Alan O’Sullivan who had made a good run and he cut inside the defender before sending in a good shot. The keeper parried it and a number of players reacted quickly to try and get on the end of it. Although at first it looked like Declan McManus had scored, it was in fact Matthew McMahon who got the final touch.

The home side came back after that and the Dons had to deal with a bit of pressure. Danny Rogers was forced to make one very good save and Scott Rumsby also had some very good blocks. Then City equalised on 36 minutes. The Dons did not track the run of Harkins through the central defence area and he finished well hitting the ball across Rogers.

In the second half Aberdeen continued to compete very well and at times things did become very physical. There were few chances at either end, Cammy Smith showed good feet on a number of occasions on the edge of the box but could not find the target.

The winning goal come on 55 minutes. After a tussle in the middle of the park which could have led to a free kick to the Dons, the Elgin player has got to the by-line and his cross was well met by former ICT player Shane Sutherland who had timed his run well.

Neil Cooper spoke to RedWeb after the game “I was pleased with the boys. Their attitude was very good. They passed the ball about and competed really well against an experienced side. Elgin were physical, had pace and also passed the ball about well. They were a good side with a number of good experienced players. They had a lot of height in their side and I thought we dealt well with it at set-pieces.

“It was a good game to help with our player’s continuing education.

“There were a number of very good performances tonight and one major positive was Michael Rose coming back into the side after injury. He played the full 90 minutes.”

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Aberdeen U20 starting XI | Rogers, Campanile, Gibbons, O’Neill, Rose, Rumsby, O’Sullivan (off, 64′), McMahon, McManus, Smith, Ferries (off, 64′)

Substitutes | Burns, Kelly, Petrie (on, 64′), Wright (on, 64′)

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