15 years ago this evening (yes it really is 15 years!) Aberdeen marched into the group stages of the UEFA cup as they overcame Dnipro on the away goals rule for the first time in their history – it was also the first time the Dons have overturned a home draw to win a European tie on an historic night for the club.

Darren Mackie scored in the first half when he bulleted a Foster cross into the net and although they conceded a slight fluke of a goal 15 minutes from time, the Dons held out with a great backs to the wall performance. It is a night that will live long in the memories of all Aberdeen fans….

The RedWeb match report from the game can be read here on the AFC Heritage Trust site.

Also on RedTV, we have dug out the original Dnipro Diary. In the very early days of RedTV, it was one of the first videos that appeared on the club’s platform. To watch please click on the red button.

Post Match Quotes ….

“I will never hit a better or sweeter goal for Aberdeen. It was my 50th goal for the club so what a way to celebrate and it was a great time to do it. It was an unbelievable cross from Richard Foster and I just saw the ball coming over and threw myself at it and it went in.”
Darren Mackie

“We knew if we got the goal, that would make life very difficult for them. Once they equalised, we were just throwing bodies in front of everything, everyone did their bit.”
Zander Diamond

“That may be the hardest shift any of us has ever had to put in. We knew it would be tough but the second half was harder than we expected. A couple of the guys came in after the final whistle and said they didn’t think they had kicked the ball in the second period.”
Derek Young

“If the lads had been beaten badly by Dnipro and shown they weren’t mentally strong enough it would have been back to the drawing board. We would have known we didn’t have players good enough to deal with it. But then when you see them all pulling together like that it’s fantastic. They’ve grown. They were out on their feet but kept finding another ounce of energy. All our doubts disappeared.”
Jimmy Nicholl

“You saw what Dnipro did to Hibs two years ago but after playing them at Pittodrie we maybe gave them too much respect. While it was backs to the wall we defended brilliantly.”
Lee Mair

“We were confident we could nick a goal and that was certainly the plan. Lady Luck smiled on us and Jamie Langfield saved us a few times. I couldn’t watch the last 10 minutes as I was just shouting and urging the referee to hurry up and blow the whistle.”
Darren Mackie

“The great thing was the way we pulled together. The legs were heavy towards the end but when you know what’s at stake you find something to get back and make the tackle or shut off the pass. When it got to the final 10 minutes the boss was telling us not to even bother crossing the halfway line. Just defend.”
Derek Young

“I took Dunfermline to the Scottish Cup final and Europe and Aberdeen into Europe, but winning against a team of this quality is definitely the biggest achievement of my career. In the group stages there won’t be many as good as this team. It’s a great result for us at the end of a great week for Scottish football.”
Jimmy Calderwood

“When we first came everyone said, “You’ll love Foster in training but come a Saturday you won’t have a clue what to do with him.” And they were right. Then Jimmy played him at left-back. He had a hell of a start this year but came good on Thursday. I love seeing the local lads get a night like this.”
Jimmy Nicholl

“I walked into the changing room at the end of the Dnipro tie and said, “This time last year I was playing in the Challenge Cup.” It’s unbelievable to think I’ll be in the group stages of the UEFA Cup.”
Derek Young

“I watched a few programmes that were writing us off before we came here but we’ve rammed it down people’s throats. It was just a great all round display. It’s the biggest night of my career.”
Zander Diamond

“Last year the boys here had Champions League Tuesdays when we met in one of our houses and watched the football and ate pizzas. That’s that snookered now – we are going to have to go places ourselves instead!”
Jamie Langfield

Stats

DNIPROPETROVSK 1 ABERDEEN 1
Dnipro: Kernozenko, Shershun, Shelaev, Samodin (Kornilenko 74), Vorobey, Rusol, Denisov, Kankava (Kravchenko 58), Andrienko, Nazarenko, Lyopa.
Subs Not Used: Startsev, Grytsay, Bartulovic, Matiukhin, Eshchenko.
Booked: Shershun.
Goal: Vorobey 75.

Aberdeen: Langfield, Hart, Diamond, Severin, Jamie Smith (Mair 46), Nicholson, Mackie (Lovell 71), Clark, Foster, Young, Considine.
Subs Not Used: Kelly, Touzani, Miller, Maguire, De Visscher.
Booked: Considine, Foster.
Goal: Mackie 28.
Attendance: 26,275
Ref: Olivier Thual (France).

1 Goals 1

0 1st Half Goals 1

8 Shots on Target 1

15 Shots off Target 2

9 Blocked Shots 1

10 Corners 2

19 Fouls 20

2 Offsides 0

1 Yellow Cards 2

0 Red Cards 0

88.4 Passing Success 55.9

11 Tackles 17

81.8 Tackles Success 82.4

78.3 Possession 21.7

67.1 Territorial Advantage 32.9