Dundee 2 - 3 Aberdeen

It was a young Dons side that came of age this afternoon at Dens Park to clinch a top six place in the SPL.
Finding themselves 2-0 down at half time did not worry this young team as they stormed back in the second half to win 3-2 with goals from captain Darren Young, Russell Anderson and Darren Mackie as the 'follow the leader' corner kick routine paid dividends.

Dundee kicked off and won a corner in the opening seconds. This produced the first effort at goal when Caballero headed over from 10 yards. Aberdeen responded immediately and Speroni had to be quick to deny Zerouali a scoring opportunity from a Mackie cross. Both sides had a lively opening ten minutes and Dundee were looking a lot more adventurous than they had been at Pittodrie a few weeks back. The Dons could have done better in the 9th minute when Winters beat the offside trap and released Zerouali on the right. The Moroccan's cross was cushioned back to Speroni before reaching the attacking players.

Dundee opened the scoring in the 15th minute when the referee adjudged that Ketsbaia had been tripped inside the box by Zerouali. This was an incident that will make interesting viewing a second time. Minutes earlier, the same player had gone down easily on the edge of the box earning McAllister the first booking of the match. Sara stepped up and made no mistake with the kick. Aberdeen tried to hit back at once and in the 17th minute Winters headed a Clark cross wide of the target. Two minutes later McNaughton sent in a dangerous cross, which Speroni grasped from the head of Mackie. The game was end to end and Ketsbaia got beyond the Dons defence in the 19th minute only to be denied by a last gasp block. A minute later Zerouali had a dig from 20 yards, but the keeper held it easily.

The Dons were beginning to take control, but it was almost an own goal that brought them back into it on the half-hour. After some good play Sara headed inches past his own post as he helped out in defence. Ironically Zerouali was booked in the 33rd minute for diving after claiming he was blocked on the bye line. After soaking up the Dons' pressure, Dundee moved forward in the 40th minute and grabbed a second. It was quite a strike as Ketsbaia created space and drilled the ball low into the corner of the net from 20 yards. There seemed little justice in the score line, but it's goals that count, and Dundee had taken their chances. The Dons had a couple of chances to pull one back on the stroke of half time. Clark found himself in acres of space, but chose to feed the ball to Zerouali giving Speroni an easy save. Mackie had another effort blocked by the keeper with the last kick of the half.

Leon Mike replaced Zerouali at the start of the second half, but it was the home side that started strongly winning two corners in the opening minute. Mike was looking composed on the ball and he almost set up Mackie in the 50th minute, but the ball wouldn't quite roll for the youngster. Four minutes later Dundee could have extended their lead when Torres found himself in acres of space, but screwed his shot wide of Kjaer's post. Dundee were to rue this missed chance when the Dons pulled a goal back a minute later. It was similar to Dundee's second goal but this time it was Darren Young drilling the ball low into the net to bring the visitors back in to the match.

This raised the Dons' hopes and both Clark and Tiernan had decent efforts to equalise. The game then burst into life after 70 minutes. There was a mix up in the Dundee defence, but Mike couldn't turn the ball over the line as it was cleared for a corner. The resultant kick saw Anderson grab an equaliser as the follow the leader corner routine finally paid dividends. Three minutes later the same player eluded his marker again but headed wide. The Dons then introduced Ben Thornley for Chris Clark in the 74th minute and a minute later Mackie went close when his shot was deflected for a corner.

This corner was to produce the third Aberdeen goal when for the second time, the much maligned corner kick routine paid off with Mackie heading over the line despite a clearance which the referee adjudged had crossed the line. A minute later Dundee were reduced to ten men when Romaro was red carded to complete a miserable second half for the home side. The Dons comfortably controlled the remainder of the game to pull off a tremendous come back that guaranteed a top six spot and moved the reds closer to a European place.