Aberdeen will go in their quarter final clash on Thursday night with St Johnstone knowing that they have never lost to the Perth side in the League Cup. Aberdeen have won 10 of the 11 previous clashes.

 
RECORD

The first occasion the sides met was in a group game back in 1964; Aberdeen went on to win 2-1 with Ernie Winchester among the goals. St Johnstone were looking to stifle the Dons and defended in depth throughout and their tactics almost paid off had it not been for a great save  from John Ogston who pulled off a great save from Flanagan. By the time the sides clashed in the Muirton Park return both Aberdeen and St Johnstone were out of contention in the qualifying group that also contained Rangers and St Mirren. However a physical game turned nasty on occasion as both sides settled for a 1-1 draw. With several players booked it was Dave Smith who kept a calm head to score for the Dons as they more than merited their point.

 
Two years later Aberdeen won at both Pittodrie and Muirton as the Dons cruised through their group section. Aberdeen opened their season with a comfortable 3-0 win although the game was over shadowed by the news of Dave Smith’s transfer to Rangers. Smith had emerged through the ranks at Pittodrie and his £50,000 transfer to rivals Rangers caused unrest among the Dons support.

Jimmy Smith was on the mark with two goals with top scorer Billy Little also on the mark as Aberdeen got Group 1 off to a winning start. The Dons also won the return in Perth by the same margin with Little again among the goals along with Ernie Winchester and Jimmy Wilson. Aberdeen went on to finish the group as runaway winners, scoring 30 goals in the six qualifying ties against St Johnstone, Dundee and Dundee Utd. The Dons 100% record put them comfortably through to the last eight.

In 1970 Aberdeen won 2-1 at Pittodrie in a game they dominated with keeper Bobby Clark not making a save until an hour into the tie. His opponent in goal Jim Donaldson however kept Aberdeen at bay with a string of superb saves. Goals from Joe Harper and Dave Robb gave Aberdeen a deserved victory. Jim Forrest scored the only goal of the game in the return as Aberdeen deployed their famous ‘offside trap’ much to the dismay of the home support. It was a tactic that centred around captain Martin Buchan, deployed in his sweeper role. Aberdeen looked on course to qualify that season but a disastrous result against Hibernian in the final group match ended Aberdeen hopes.
 
It was not until 1983 when the sides clashed again and Aberdeen were by that time ECWC champions. Once again Aberdeen won both ties with single goal victories. In the first meeting at Muirton a rare Willie Miller goal was enough to give Aberdeen both points. In the Pittodrie return it was Neil Simpson who scored the vital winner against a St Johnstone side that looked to defend in depth against an Aberdeen side that was carrying all before them in those days.  

When the competition changed to a straight knockout format, Aberdeen met St Johnstone in 1985 and again in 1987 and won both ties in convincing fashion.
 
In the 1985 meeting, goals from John Hewitt and Frank McDougall put Aberdeen through as they would go on to win the League Cup that season, without conceding a single goal in any tie including the 3-0 win over Hibernian at Hampden.
 
In the 1987 clash this time at Pittodrie, two goals from Davie Dodds and another from Jim Bett eased the Dons through to the next round. The Dons went on to reach the final once again that season.

It is interesting to note that all of the Dons previous away ties with St Johnstone were played at their old Muirton Park ground in Perth.   
 

In the last meeting the Dons recorded their best ever League Cup win against the Perth side in the semi-final clash at Tynecastle in February 2014. The Dons were backed by a huge support which clearly helped the team on the day. The Dons recent record in semi-finals had been poor so any nerves were wiped away after Jonny Hayes scored the opener in 3 minutes. Adam Rooney set up Hayes at the far post and the Dons Irish pairing came up with the goods early in the match to settle the team down.

Although St Johnstone did come back into the tie with long spells of possession the Dons defence stood firm. The turning point came in the 25^th minutes when Jamie Langfield pulled off a sensational save from Lee Croft who was in the clear. Aberdeen made the Perth side pay dearly with a classic sucker punch in 32 minutes. After Hayes then McGinn broke into the Saints half, it was Peter Pawlett who picked up the ball 30 yards from goal. Pawlett used his pace to get past Anderson and from a tight angle he slipped the ball past keeper Banks.

St Johnstone tried to get back into the tie in the second half and their best chance came and gone in 50 minutes when former Don Gary MacDonald missed a great chance to get the Perth side back into the tie. From that point on the Dons enjoyed the rest of the game as they picked off the Saints who continued to press forward. The game was effectively over in 63 minutes. Pawlett dispossessed McKay near the half way line and he set up Adam Rooney who was clear in on goal.

The Irishman composed himself, waited for Banks to commit himself before calmly slipping the ball into the corner of the net. The Aberdeen support were in raptures and their domination continued in the closing stages as Jonny Hayes rounded off the scoring in 78 minutes. St Johnstone by that time were a beaten side and despite some robust tactics, Hayes toyed with Anderson before sending a searing shot past Banks to send Aberdeen through to the final. Shay Logan made his Aberdeen debut that day as the Dons reached their first final for 14 years.