Aberdeen 2 - 1 Partick Thistle

Manager Derek McInnes made four changes to the side which drew with Hearts last week. Captain Ryan Jack was ruled out ahead of kick off with an injury. Kenny McLean took his place in the team with Graeme Shinnie taking over captain's duties. Also Andrew Considine and Miles Storey came back into the side along with Adam Rooney whilst Taylor, Stockley and Burns dropped to the bench. Peter Pawlett and Anthony O'Connor kept their places in the starting 11 after impressing last week against Hearts.

The Dons were back to their regular schedule after playing a gruelling four games in nine days. They still wouldn't be as fresh as opponents Partick Thistle who had enjoyed a fortnight of rest having not played a match last week.

To their credit Thistle came to play football and were really unlucky not to go ahead after seven minutes when David Amoo outmuscled Mark Reynolds twice, but neither of his deliveries could find a man inside the area. At the other end, Peter Pawlett came so close to putting the Dons in front after Graeme Shinnie won a free kick in a dangerous area. Peter did really well getting the shot on target which forced Cerny into a smart stop and then Pete showed great hunger minutes later with a snap shot on goal from inside the area.

After Thistle had been the better side in the opening ten minutes Aberdeen slowly got a bit of control. They had plenty of energy and pace going forward but there was a lack of clear cut chances.

And then finally a goal came and what a goal it was.

A nice bursting run from Graeme Shinnie forced Osman into conceding a free kick at the edge of the box. We know just how much quality Niall McGinn possesses and on 28 minutes he used every drop of it when his beautifully struck free kick sailed over the wall into the top left hand corner.

The Dons' season was up and running.

You felt that once the first went in, the rest would follow quickly afterwards. It could easily have been 2-0 after 35 minutes when Adam Rooney got on the right side of a brilliant Reynolds long ball. Mark had a number of them today. Rooney tried to slide the ball under the out rushing Tomas Cerny. The goalkeeper couldn't gather the ball and when Adam jumped up and put a shot across goal and it very nearly found Storey who was coming in at the back post.

If the Red Army thought that having gone a goal behind Thistle would crumble they were wrong. Amoo beat Mark Reynolds to the ball in the middle of the pitch launching a counter attack. The winger showed tremendous pace to set himself up for a shot, but he couldn't get past Shay Logan who had got back in time to make a perfectly timed block. Brilliant defending that stopped an almost certain goal. Logan has been one of the Dons' star performers so far this season and once again showed his quality.

That was all there was time for, with referee John Beaton bringing a very enjoyable 45 minutes of football to a close. A solid performance from both teams.

HT: ABERDEEN 1 - 0 PARTICK THISTLE

Aberdeen looked like they had taken plenty of confidence from that first half goal. The opening stages started well with Miles Storey's movement causing some trouble in the Thistle defence. He laid the ball off for Niall McGinn on the right but his cross only found the gloves of Tomas Cerny.

After 57 minutes it was 2-0 and once again it was the work of Graeme Shinnie which opened the door. Thistle were slow to get the ball out from the back and the captain's hard work paid off when Liam Lindsay was caught in possession. Miles Storey pounced on his uncertainty rolling the ball into the left hand corner of the goal in off the post. After putting in a huge graft, the young striker deserved his goal and will be delighted to have opened his account at Pittodrie.

With a two goal advantage it looked like it was going to be a good day's work for the Dons. Just after the hour mark, the manager shuffled his pack with a double substitution. Wes Burns replaced Peter Pawlett who, for the second week in a row, had impressed. Ash Taylor came on for Miles Storey, allowing O'Connor to sit in the midfield.

During his time in England, Anthony earned himself a reputation as an enforcer in the middle of the pitch, so the change in tactics kept a good balance in the team.

The game went through a stop-start phase with a strange succession of play which saw Niall McGinn booked. Aberdeen had one or two half chances but seemed happy to protect what they had.

As we moved into the final stages of the game Partick Thistle were reduced to 10 men when Sean Welsh took Wes Burns out on the break. The midfielder appeared to confront the linesman and was given his marching orders and a second yellow card by referee John Beaton.

Jayden Stockley came on with five minutes to go, as Derek McInnes decided it was time to take off Adam Rooney who as usual had put in a lot of work off the ball.
That should have been that.

But it was to be a nervy finish to the match as Partick Thistle got themselves a lifeline as the board went up for stoppage time. Substitute Chris Erskine lashed the ball home from inside the box with a delightful finish. The Dons sat deep with a couple of minutes left to play. Could they hold on?

Fortunately, they could. Thistle won a couple of corners that gave keeper Cerny the chance to come forward. The first effort nearly snuck into the goal after taking a deflection off McLean. The midfielder in the end did well to deflect the ball wide. The second effort was cleared by Shay Logan who took a knock in the process of clearing.
John Beaton blew for full time which was certainly a relief. A deserved three points for Aberdeen, their first win of the season. Despite the nervy finish, again more positives for the manager to be happy with at this stage of the season.

FT ABERDEEN 2 - 1 PARTICK THISTLE