Ross County 3 Aberdeen Emerging Talent Squad 4 KDM Evolution Trophy Matchday Three Global Energy Stadium Tuesday 8 September, 7.45pm KO

An Aberdeen Emerging Talent Squad held on to claim a 4-3 win over League One side Ross County in the KDM Evolution Trophy. The Dons XI featured six players to have featured for the first team: Nicky Devlin, Andrew Fasanya, Mitchel Frame, Findlay Marshall, Ante Palaversa and Jack Milne, who skippered the side. County rang the changes ahead of their Premier Sports quarter-final tie at home to Hibernian on Saturday, with Brian Graham, Jamie Lindsay and former Don Adam Emslie among those who dropped to the bench. Fasanya’s first half double put the Dons in control, however County responded strongly in the second half and pulled a goal back through Kieran Phillips. Although Marshall’s sublime effort restored the two-goal cushion, Phillips once again struck back. The Dons were under the cosh in the latter stages after Marshall was red carded, with Rodrigo Vitols pulling off a number of superb saves to thwart the Staggies. The home side’s persistence looked to have paid off when Luke McCarvel equalised three minutes into stoppage time – only for Joseph Teasdale to net the winning goal straight from the resulting kick-off. It was a courageous victory for the young Dons side which inflicts a first defeat of the season on full-time opponents County, who had an unblemished record from their previous 12 competitive games of the campaign.

Report: The Dons began on the front foot, with a well-worked move setting up a glimpse at goal for Marshall inside the opening minute, before he was crowded out by the Staggies’ defence. There was no denying the Reds on 13 minutes however. A slick ball through the lines released Marshall to run at the County defence, with his slide rule pass releasing Fasanya who took a neat touch before tucking beyond Bradley Wade – despite the goalkeeper’s best efforts to keep the ball out.

The Staggies looked for an instant reply, with Ricco Diack seeing an effort blocked behind. Aberdeen continued to show quality in possession however, with Fasanya doubling his tally with another sublime finish on 22 minutes. A ball upfield from defence picked out the winger who still had plenty to do to carve out a shot, with Fasanya showing excellent footwork to dance past his marker before shooting low past Wade into the far corner from a tight angle. Fasanya’s double had the Dons in cruise control but County upped their threat as half-time approached, with Lewis Jamieson twice coming within inches of halving the deficit. On 38 minutes, Jamieson let fly with a 25-yard effort which had the beating of Rodrigo Vitols, but came back off the crossbar. Jamieson was once again denied by the woodwork three minutes before the break with a low drive from an acute angle, with the ball cannoning off the post before bouncing into Vitols’ arms. Half-time: Ross County 0-2 Aberdeen

County knew an early goal would get them right back into the match, and Vitols had to be alert to make an excellent save to turn a Jack Turner effort wide. The Staggies clawed one back on 52 minutes when Andrew Macleod’s header across goal caused problems for the Dons’ defence, with Kieran Phillips appearing to get the final touch ahead of Jack Milne to bundle home from point-blank range. That got County’s tails up, and a last-ditch clearance on the line from Jamie Mercer thwarted Macleod’s goalbound effort only moments later. It proved a crucial intervention, as the Dons restored their two-goal cushion on 62 minutes. It was another sublime goal, with Marshall executing a sublime turn to leave two Staggies midfielders trailing, before bearing down on goal and guiding home a cool low finish from the edge of the box.

That looked to have given the Reds’ breathing space, but County pulled another goal back just four minutes later when the ball broke kindly for Phillips to squeeze a low finish past Vitols at the far post. The Dons were reduced to 10 men on 69 minutes when referee Mark Daly stopped play to brandish a straight red card to Marshall, with no opposing player in close vicinity of the midfielder. The dismissal left the Dons with a huge test to see out their lead in the final stages, with Dylan Ross and Zak To introduced to provide fresh legs. They survived a scare on 73 minutes, when Turner saw his header clip the top of the bar on its way over, while Vitols made a fine save to turn Luke McCarvel’s drive around the post. The Dons looked to have suffered late heartbreak three minutes into stoppage time, with Luke McCarvel’s header appearing to secure a point for the Staggies. Straight from kick-off Aberdeen picked themselves straight up again however, with Teasdale played clean through before nestling a clinical finish past Wade to secure a valuable three points. Full-time: Ross County 3-4 Aberdeen

Reaction from Stuart Duff:

“The game ebbed and flowed in either direction, with the team going down to 10 men. Ross County are a really quality side, as we could see with the players they took on.

“We had to stand up to quite a lot of pressure, and that’s probably the pleasing part. They showed the character and willingness to do the basics of football, which is ultimately what will get you quite far in the game.

“If you’ve got that character to match runs, win duels, win tackles and communicate – that is all the simple, basic stuff.

“We ultimately told them their quality would shine through. We know they are good football players, so that’s probably the main pleasing point we will take.

“We knew they had the quality, but they needed to show a bit more bravery.

“Any time we played, and got it down, we did things really clean – whether it was the first pass to beat a press, and our quality showed.

“Our four goals are signs of that. We are looking for that over a longer duration of the game, but that’s probably credit to the opposition we were up against.

“When we get first team players down with us, that’s probably as good as we will get as regards to their attitude and application towards games.

“A lot of them have not played a lot of minutes, such as Nicky Devlin, Mitchel Frame, Ante Palaversa and Jack Milne. You then add in the young lads, who have not played many minutes, and it’s a tall order.

“It might sound bad but I was actually quite pleased when we went down to 10 men, to see a bit more of the character.

“I wanted to see who was going to dig in, stand up and be counted. To a man, I couldn’t be prouder of them. It was an excellent team performance.

“Had we come in at 3-3 I would have been just as happy, but to get that winner through a bit of quality at the end was the icing on the cake.”

STATS: Aberdeen: 41. Vitols, 2. Devlin, 5. Mercer, 6. Masson, 7. Fasanya (To 75’), 9. Teasdale, 11. Searle (Ross 60’), 15. Frame (Carrol 82’), 17. Marshall, 18. Palaversa, 22. Milne ©. Subs: 20. Waldron, 3. Ross, 4. Carrol, 8. Cummings, 10. To, 12. Duncan, 16. McLean, 23. Pocklington, 24. Okhuoya. Goals: Fasanya 13’, 22’, Marshall 62’, Teasdale 90+4’ Bookings: Fasanya 53’ Red card: Marshall 69’ Ross County: 31. Wade, 2. Forrester, 8. Cornelius (Smith 82’), 11. Phillips, 16. Hamilton, 17. Diack (Coyle 46’), 18. Macleod (Emslie 75’), 20. Turner (Graham 82’), 24. Jamieson (McCarvel 75’), 28. Williamson, 43. Reid ©. Subs: 1. Foster, 3. Strapp, 5. Reid, 9. Graham, 10. Lindsay, 15. Smith, 19. McCarvel, 22. Emslie, 39. Coyle. Goals: Phillips 52’, 66’, McCarvel 90+3’