Hibernian 4 - 1 Aberdeen

There was little evidence before the interval that Aberdeen were considerable under strength at Easter Road, Edinburgh. During that time they played fast and not unattractive football. They quite held their own with the Hibernians, and, after twenty-five minutes' play, Paton, the best of their forwards, gave them the lead. A strong rally by the Hibernians, and the half-time score of a goal apiece was a fair reflex of the play. Afterwards, however, a general improvement in the play of the Hibernians, couple with the inability of the visitors to reproduce anything like their earlier form, made the second half less exciting. The Hibernians themselves were not at their best, but sound half-back play by Shaw, and fine forward play by Dunn, served to maintain the interest. Dunn scored another two goals, and, with Miller adding another, the Hibernians won easily in the end. But, had it not been for the ability of Dunn to get goals, the final result would have been much closer. None of the other Hibernian forwards could finish. All the same, the victory went the right way.

Source: The Scotsman, 124th November 1924

At Easter Road, Edinburgh, Aberdeen sustained their ninth defeat of the season, Hibernian beating them by 4 goals to 1. The losers were without Blackwell, Forsyth, MacLachlan, Pirie, and Walter Jackson, and in consequence had to field lfve reserves, while Hibernian were without Harper and Dornan. There were 13,000 spectators.
Victory went to the better team, but the big score flattered them, and it would have been more in accordance with the run of the play if Aberdeen had finished one goal in arrears. In the first half the young Aberdeen players put up a surprisingly good display. Not only did they open the scoring, but they played fast and really good football, while they were always a more convincing combination than Hibernian, who scarcely deserved to be level at the interval. In the second half Hibernian were seen to better advantage, yet their superiority was never really marked, and had the Aberdeen forward's been possessed of more height and weight to press their attack, the result must have been much closer. Although heavily beaten, the young Aberdeen players were far from being disgraced, and considering the difficulties experienced iin fielding a team consequent upon S.F.A. suspensions, and the influenza epidemic, a much more favourable result was not generally anticipated.
Cunningham, deputising for Blackwell, marred an otherwise fine display by slipping and faling in his effort to avert the fourth goal. J. Jackson was much the better back, and the most prominent defender afield. Captain of the team for the day, the centre-half proved a brilliant breaker-up, and was largely instrumental in reducing the Hibernian attack to a very moderate force. Edward, too, did useful work. Paton and Main were the most successful forwards, and A. Jackson operating centre-forward was always a dangerous raider.
On the Hibernian side, McGinnigle, Shaw, and Miller was always prominent in defence, and Dunn, who scored three three goals, and Ritchie were outstanding amongst the forwards, but the line never touched the cleverness exhibited by the Aberdeen quintette in the first period of the game.

GOAL FOR PATON

After McColl's initial attempt to break through had been nullified by Jackson, Main got away and centred, and Templeton, hesitating to clear, lost possession to Paton, who promptly shot, and the ball passed a few inches high of McAlpine's goal. Another Hibernian raid followed, and Walker forced a corner off Sutherland, but placed behind. Following more pressure by Hibernian, Dunn got through to shoot from point blank range, but Cunningham brought off a wonderful save. Clever and fast play by the Aberdeen forwards had the home defence in a tangle, and after the ball had passed right along the visitors' line Bruce shot over from the right wing. The pressure was sustained, and McAlpine failed to gather a centre from Smith. It looked as of the Keeper had allowed the ball to cross the goal line, but he recovered possession and found relief from a desperate scrimmage through the medium of free kick against an Aberdeen forward for charging him. Alec Jackson headed the ball against the bar, and just failed to catch the rebound. Hibernian ultimately shook off the pressure, and the Aberdeen goal had a narrow escape when, following a faulty clearance by Cunningham, Sutherland got in the way of a shot by Halligan with the Aberdeen goal untenanted. The home forwards maintained the attack, but their finishing left much to be desired. Ritchie centred behind, and Dunn just missed with a header, and on a later occasion Walker shot wildly from a good position. A concerted movement by the whole of the Aberdeen forwards resulted in Smith narrowly missing with a hard shot off a centre by Main. Ritchie and Dunn were prominent in the Hibernian attack, and the Aberdeen defence was kept busy getting rid of crosses from the extreme winger. Aberdeen, however, continued to serve up the brighter football, and were rewarded with a goal after 25 minutes' play. The ball was passed quickly from man to man. Ultimately Alec Jackson manoeuvred for position, slipped it through to Paton, who shot from 18 yards range as the backs closed in upon him, and the ball passed into the net near McAlpine's left goal post. After this success the Aberdeen forwards attacked as determinedly as ever, and a hard drive by Paton passed inches high of the home goal. A rush by the Edinburgh forwards saw Cunningham save finely from Walker. Ultimately the Hibs left winger placed accurately from the corner, and Dunn jumped high above all others to head the ball past Cunningham. The success spurred the Hibernian attackers to greater effort, and they forced two corners in quick succession, but Aberdeen crowded their goal and there was no further scoring at half-time, when each side had one goal to its credit.

HIBERNIAN GO AHEAD.

The Hibernian right wing developed danger on resuming Ultimately A. Jackson and Main relieved with a long run, but the winger's cross was cleared by McGinnigle. After six minutes Hibernian went ahead through Dunn. Ritchie crossed strongly, and the ball went to Walker who avoided Sutherland's tackle and returned the ball in front of goal for Dunn to turn it past Cunningham from close range. Unnoticed by the referee, McGinnigle with his hand dispossessed A. Jackson when the Aberdeen centre-forward looked like going through. Subsequently Main and Jackson strove hard to retrieve Aberdeen's fortunes, and on two occasions McAlpine had to run out and kick clear with the centre-forward rushing in. Paton, Main, and Jackson took part, in a clever combined movement, but Templeton dispossessed Paton after the latter had beaten Miller. A spell of pressure by Hibernian ensued, but Cunningham was not seriously tested. Following a slip by McGinnigle, Jackson and Main threatened for Aberdeen, but Paton lost a chance of equalising by shooting weakly, and McAlpine cleared easily. A corner forced by Bruce was followed by a scrimmage in front of the Hibernian goal, and several shots were charged down by home defenders. As the result of a raid by Walker, Hibernian got a third goal, Dunn again being the scorer. Walker placed a flag-kick accurately, and Dunn, putting his hand on McColl's shoulders, raised himself high into the air to head the ball down into the net. At the other end, Smith had a fierce drive, the ball crossing the Hibernian goal line and then going behind, and Main forced a corner, which was cleared. A fourth goal followed to Hibernian. Miller shot from 30 yards range, and but for slipping and falling Cunningham must have saved. Following this Ritchie, who had been injured earlier, retired, and Hibernian finished the game with ten men. In the closing stages Aberdeen made several spirited attacks. Hutton had a tremendous drive deflected for a corner, and later McAlpine fisted away from Smith with the Aberdeen centre-half in close attendance.

Source: Press & Journal, 24th November 1924