The History

This is the fourth occasion when Dumbarton have been Aberdeen’s first opponents in a Scottish Cup campaign, and only the seventh meeting between the teams in this competition.

 

The first time the sides clashed resulted in Dumbarton’s only victory over Aberdeen in the cup.

Aberdeen were in poor form back then and Second Division Dumbarton caused an upset with a 1-0 win at Boghead in 1913. There was confusion ahead of the tie as the directors were undecided as to the team to face Dumbarton. Neither Hume nor Hannah had been in good form and eventually the side that was picked was; King, Colman, Hannah, Davidson, Wilson, McConnell, Soye, Travers, Milne, Main, Scorgie. Dumbarton lined up; Miller, Keir, Hunter, Potter, Speedie, Lithgow, Ferguson, Blythe, Rowan, Pender, Stalker.

Heavy rain meant that conditions were poor with ‘ankle deep mud’ reported in some parts of the pitch. In a game that Aberdeen certainly dominated in terms of possession they simply could not find their way to goal and squandered numerous chances. The first goal of the game came after three minutes when Ferguson tricked Hannah before setting up Rowan who gave King no chance.

That was the only chance that came Dumbarton’s way in the first half. In the second half Milne had the ball in the net but referee Robertson decided that the goal was offside. With 15 minutes left Aberdeen finally got their equaliser through Scorgie after good work by Main. It was then the home side that took the game to Aberdeen with eight corners in several minutes. Eventually Rowan scored a second goal that proved decisive. Aberdeen could not muster another comeback and they went out of the cup with only £75 gate money to show for their efforts.

In 1922 Aberdeen had both Wright and MacLachlan back for the visit of Dumbarton in the Scottish Cup. Sixteen thousand paid £930 gate receipts for the tie in which Aberdeen were seen as fortunate to progress. The crucial goal came four minutes before half time. After a foul on Miller Aberdeen were awarded a free kick. Doug Thomson stepped up to take the kick and his half-hearted effort was deflected by Henderson before it hit King and into the net. Aberdeen continued to press and claims for a penalty when Thomson was brought down were waved aside by Dundee referee Campbell. The teams that day were;

Aberdeen; Blackwell, Hutton, Forsyth, Wright, Milne, MacLachlan, Middleton, Thomson, Miller, Rankine, Bainbridge.

Dumbarton; King, Colman, Henderson, Chattan, Field, Loney, McEwen, Robertson, Wood, Chalmers, Browning.

Two years later the sides clashed again at Pittodrie and once again Aberdeen prevailed after a struggle. Jimmy Jackson opened the scoring after half an hour but the home side were stunned after the interval when a fierce shot from Stalker hit the roof of the net. Aberdeen defender Forsyth cleared the ball away as many spectators did not realise the ball was in the net. In the closing stages with a replay looking likely Stewart Davidson slipped the ball to Johnny Miller who slammed the ball into the net to the relief of the Aberdeen players and support.

In January 1931 Aberdeen recorded their best win over Dumbarton in the cup with a 6-1 win at Pittodrie in what was the side’s fourth Scottish Cup meeting. The crowd in excess of 10,000 were delighted to see Scotland internationals Andy Love and Benny Yorston score two goals each in the rout of Dumbarton who were in the Second Division at the time. Aberdeen went on to reach the quarter finals that season.

The Aberdeen side that day was;

S Smith, Falloon, Jackson, Black, McLaren, Hill, Love, McDermid, Yorston, McLean, J Smith.

The last occasion the sides met at Boghead was at the quarter final stage in 1966. Once again Aberdeen were in command in what could have been a tricky tie. Manager Eddie Turnbull had begun to transform his side and they showed enough to suggest that better days were ahead. Despite a nervous start Jimmy Wilson opened the scoring after 29 minutes and it was not until Billy Little added a second after 70 minutes that Aberdeen could relax. This win put Aberdeen through to the semi-finals for the first time since 1959. The teams that day were;

Aberdeen; Clark, Whyte, Shewan, Petersen, McMillan, Smith, Little, Melrose, Winchester, Ravn, Wilson,

Dumbarton; Crayford, Govan, Jardine, Johnstone, Curran, Harris, McCall, Nelson, Lynas, Miller, Muir.

The most recent visit came in 2014. The Dons, who had knocked Celtic out the previous round, lined up with Langfield in goal, Logan at right back with Anderson and Reynolds in central defence with Considine at left back. The midfield holding players were Flood and Jack with Robson on the right and Smith playing off Rooney. Niall McGinn dropped to the bench and Peter Pawlett did not make the squad due to injury. He would sadly go on and miss the league cup final the following week as well. Dumbarton lined up with Mitch Megginson in the starting XI. Another ex Don Bryan Prunty was not fully fit so was given a spot on the bench.

The first chance of the game came after 16 minutes full back Paul McGinn gave the ball away on the half way line and he all of a sudden was caught badly out of position. Jack played it to Hayes who took the ball for a run before putting over a great cross. Robson threw himself at it but Linton and Grindlay somehow kept his header out. The visitors then appealed for a penalty when Kane and Anderson clashed but the ref waved play on.

On 28 minutes Angew played over a free kick, he picked out Megginson who came in at the back post but his effort hit Langfield and the keeper reacted quickly to claim the ball. Then on 39 minutes the closest the Dons came to scoring in the first half. A Hayes cross was not defended properly and the ball landed at the feet of Cammy Smith. He neatly moved the ball onto his left before hitting a shot which was going in but hit Andy Graham who made a vital block.

On 43 minutes a good chance for the Sons. The ball fell nicely for Megginson on the edge of the area and he had space and time but the former Don, who has scored nine goals this season, put his first time shot just wide. The Dons went in at the break knowing they were certainly in a game and the visitors started the second half very strongly. A couple in minutes in Angew chipped a ball in and Langfield dropped a low ball. It looked for all the world as Kane would score but Anderson reacted first and managed to put the ball to safety. A major let off for the Dons.

The chance though lifted Dumbarton and they then dominated for the next seven minutes or so. Colin Nish did well to beat Anderson before cut it back for Megginson. The Dons defence did just enough to close him down in time and his shot looped up into the grateful arms of Langfield. Then minutes later Nish set up Agnew and his deflected shot looked threatening but Langfield held on.
Pittodrie had become very nervous.

It was therefore completely against the run of play when Aberdeen took the lead on 52 minutes. Massive credit for the goal must go to Cammy Smith who had a very impressive game. He chased a ball that looked a lost cause into the corner and did so well he managed to force Scott Linton into give away a corner. The Dumbarton player was trying to see the ball out for a goal kick. How many goals come from needlessly given away corners? The Dons took full advantage as Robson swung a ball in which Rooney met perfectly and his header from 10 yards gave the stranded Grindlay no chance.

Aberdeen then went on to dominate the rest of the half as Dumbarton suffered a number of injuries. The changes seemed to affect the flow of the visitors and all of a sudden their players started to look very tired and they were not matching their runners. The Dons then very nearly went two up when Jack placed his shot from the edge of the area but it hit the post. Hayes forced Grindlay into a decent save from the rebound.

Aberdeen missed further opportunities to kill the tie and then with two minutes remaining it was almost disaster time. Fleming lifted a ball into the box. It looked a fairly routine clearance but Hayes had switched off for a split second and Paul McGinn had a free header. He failed to connect properly but the Dons players could only look on as the ball bounced off the surface over the bar. What a chance and what a let off.

A professional performance from the Dons but Dumbarton will also head down the road proud of their efforts. The following week the Dons would go on and lift the League Cup with victory over Inverness CT. Sadly a cup double was not achieved when St Johnstone beat Aberdeen in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup at Ibrox.

Aberdeen: Jamie Langfield, Shay Logan, Russell Anderson, Mark Reynolds, Andrew Considine, Ryan Jack, Willo Flood, Barry Robson (Nicky Low 87) Jonny Hayes, Cammy Smith (Niall McGinn 70), Adam Rooney (Scott Vernon 83). Unused Subs: Weaver, Tate, Zola, Shaughnessy

Dumbarton: Stephen Grindlay, Paul McGinn, Andrew Graham, Michael Miller, Scott Linton (Scott Smith 63), Mark Gilhaney, Scott Agnew (Bryan Prunty 70), Christopher Kane, Jordan Kirkpatrick, Colin Nish (Garry Fleming 60), Mitchel Megginson. Unused Subs: Jamie Ewings, Hugh Murray, Callum Thomson, Steven McDougall.

The Stats

Date	Result	Round	AFC Scorers	Attendance
8.2.1913	Dumbarton 2:1 Aberdeen	2	Scorgie	8,000
28.1.1922	Aberdeen 1:0 Dumbarton	1	Thomson	16,000
26.1.1924	Aberdeen 2:1 Dumbarton	1	Jackson, Miller	12,500
17.1.1931	Aberdeen 6:1 Dumbarton	1	Love 2, McDermid, Yorston 2, McLean	10,570
5.3.1966	Dumbarton 0:3 Aberdeen	Q/F	Little, Winchester, Wilson	10,000
8.3.2014	Aberdeen 1:0 Dumbarton	Q/F	Rooney	10.600

 

RECORD	P	W	D	L	F	A
Pittodrie	4	4	0	0	10	2
Boghead	2	1	0	1	4	2
Total	6	5	0	1	14	4