Aberdeen 4 - 0 Kilmarnock

A mightily impressive Aberdeen Under 18’s performance ensured they saw off the challenge of Kilmarnock by four goals to nil on Friday afternoon at Cormack Park – despite falling victim to a red card just two minutes into what looked to be a very challenging cup tie.

The Ayrshire side are currently top of the Club Academy U18 League and defeated the Dons last month 4-1 at Rugby Park.

Two goals from Alfie Bavidge on his return to Under 18 action aided by a goal a-piece from Findlay Marshall and Cammy Wilson which all came in the second half were more than enough to book a place in the Quarter-Finals. A stunning victory.

Report

Scott Anderson named a strong side for the visit of high-flying Kilmarnock in the cup. The young Dons were aided by the return of both Brendan Hamilton and Victor Enem, replacing Timi Akindileni and Christovie Kondolo in both full-back positions, and Alfie Bavidge returned to lead the line – Fraser Mackie dropping to a substitutes bench bolstered by Oliver Green and Dylan Ross for their first involvement with the 18s.

The game kicked off in very cold and blustery conditions.

After an encouraging start right from kick-off that saw Enem win an early corner, Aberdeen were dealt a huge early blow when Ellis Clark was shown a straight red card just two minutes into the tie when he was adjudged to have committed a foul as the last man. The foul was outside the box, Burkes free kick wide, but the young Dons had a huge challenge on their hands at Cormack Park.

After looking a bit shell shocked following the dismissal, Aberdeen then did extremely well to calm the game back down, and after Craik forced Vitols into a strong save, showed signs that they were taking some control of the game. Bavidge was beginning to come to life, his jinking run inside the box got the better of the Killie defence, but he couldn’t get his short on target. The Aberdeen number nine had another similar chance minutes later, but he slipped as he lined up to shoot and again his effort was wide of the mark.

With the North-East wind continuing to swirl around Cormack Park the young Dons saw more chances go abegging. Kai Watson’s long-range effort was blocked and turned behind, from the resulting corner the ball ended up going across the face of goal but there was no one in red to turn it in. In a flash Kilmarnock broke up the park and came close on the counter: Craik again testing Vitols with a stinging effort, but the Dons keeper was able to get a hand on it.

Fletcher Boyd was lively throughout the first 45 and he had the best chance of the half. The attacking midfielder was on the end of Hamilton’s back post cross, his first time effort denied by the feet of keeper Armour. A very good block.

Aberdeen went in level at the break as a tight first half played for 44 regular minutes with ten men came to a close. The young Dons had rallied well in the face of adversity.

Half-time Aberdeen 0 Kilmarnock 0

After the break Aberdeen came out the traps firing on all cylinders and simply blew Kilmarnock away in a remarkable period of play.

Findlay Marshall drove forward from kick off and from the edge of the box fired a low drive across the face of goal and into the back of the net to give the young Dons a lead.

By the 49th minute 1-0 became 2-0 through the impressive Cammy Wilson who broke through and found himself one on one with Armour before applying enough on his shot to survive ricocheting back off the keeper and into the back of the Killie net.

The ten men of Aberdeen had a given themselves a firm grip on the cup tie.

Just minutes later Scott Anderson’s side should have been 3-0 up after Boyd’s effort from close range on the rebound came back off the bar after Marshall’s shot was saved at full stretch.

Kilmarnock looked rocked by the Dons dominance and just before the hour Bavidge finally got his goal after the ball broke to the forward inside the box. It was a great finish from Alfie, blasting the ball high and mightily into the top corner after just taking the one touch to set himself.

Cooper Masson was the one and only Aberdeen introduction from the bench, he replaced Enem at right back after 64 minutes of action.

As the game began to wind down and with the match seemingly over as a contest Kilmarnock opted to make wholesale changes from the bench. The visitors began to see more of the ball, but the ten men of Aberdeen were well organised and resolute, preventing Killie any meaningful chances of attempting a late comeback.

Deep into injury time there was enough left on the clock for the young Dons to get one more to put the icing on the cake of a great Aberdeen performance. Bavidge got a second goal, capitalising on a great low ball from Wilson on the right that enabled the striker to attack with his first touch inside the area to convert and send the game beyond doubt, and book ten-man Aberdeen’s place in the last eight of the Youth Cup, and continue their really strong season.