Aberdeen Under 18s recorded an impressive win on the road on Friday afternoon, defeating Hamilton Academical by three goals to nil at their New Douglas Park base.
An early goal from Timothy Akindileni sent the Young Dons on their way, before an own goal and an Ellis Clark strike wrapped up the three points in style.
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There was two changes to the side that defeated Dundee United last time out in the league, Jack Searle and Noah McDonnell introduced from the start, the latter making his full debut for the Under 18’s since joining in the summer.
It was the young Dons who started as the brighter side at New Douglas Park as Ellis Clark caused some problems on the wing and done well to win a corner in the opening minutes, but the resulting corner was cleared well by the Accies defence after Cooper Masson saw his shot blocked.
The Dons continued to enjoy some good play down the flanks early on, Dylan Ross done well to beat his man to the byline and fire across goal, but it was just inches out of reach for Fraser Mackie at the back-post.
Aberdeen continued to search for the opening goal, and they found it after Masson was fouled near the sidelines around 30 yards out.
A delightful in-swinging cross from the resulting free-kick by Clark was met at the back-post by Akindileni, and the towering centre-back made no mistake from six yards out as he powered a header past the helpless Neil Stafford in the Hamilton goal with just 8 minutes on the clock.
The Dons continued to push on after the early opener and almost doubled the scores after 13 minutes when a short corner was cleared by Clark towards Searle, who did well to turn his man on the sideline before sending a pin-point pass with the outside of his boot through to Mackie.
Mackie showed great bravery and managed to flick the ball past the oncoming Neil Stafford, who had no option but to bring the forward down 20 yards from goal and the Accies keeper was promptly booked by referee Kai Newell.
Hamilton started to grow into the game, and Jack Bell was unlucky to see his inviting cross fly across the Aberdeen goal after some great foot-work on the 20 minute mark.
The game descended into a midfield battle until just before halftime, as Aberdeen’s Masson and Hamilton’s Lewis Hodgkiss both looked to secure control for their sides.
It was Masson who was central to Aberdeen’s second goal, as his perfectly timed through ball towards Joseph Teasdale allowed the winger plenty time to find a cross, and his powerful drive across goal cannoned off Hamilton’s Ben Reilly and into the bottom corner of the goal, giving the young Dons a hard-fought but ultimately deserved 2-0 lead just before half-time.
Half-time. Hamilton 0-2 Aberdeen.
Hamilton came flying out of the traps after the break, and the impressive Jack Bell did very well to take the ball past two Dons defenders before getting a shot off which was deflected behind for a corner which came to nothing.
Aberdeen created a flurry of chances in the next 10 minutes, as Clark could only find the side-netting after a good turn in the box directly from a Ross throw-in.
Teasdale was beginning to find space behind the Accies backline, and was unfortunate to see his volley fly just wide after a great chipped ball over the top by Clark.
He was at it again just minutes later, as a near identical run saw him find space behind the Accies defence again. His volley was on target this time, but Stafford did well in the Accies net to make himself big and deny the Dons winger.
Teasdale would finally get his reward for his tireless runs in behind just a minute later, as he was played towards the byline after the Dons had won the ball high up the field and did well to cut the ball back towards Clark who was waiting on the penalty spot.
Clark composed himself with a first touch before firing into the bottom left corner to extend the Dons lead once again just 10 minutes into the second half.
Hamilton started to get on the ball more as Aberdeen had begun to protect their lead but it was the Dons who caused themselves their own issues, as goalkeeper Rodrigo Vitols was caught on the ball by Hamilton substitute Kayden Aitken.
With the goal gaping, Dons centre back Akindileni was left with no choice but to haul back the Accies forward just outside the box, with referee Kai Newell showing the centre-back a straight-red card.
Thankfully the Dons had already raced ahead on the scoreline as the loss of Akindileni didn’t cause too many issues for Aberdeen.
Hamilton did attempt to fight back into the game with the extra man during the final 10 minutes as Hamilton’s Jude Bell continued to ask the question of the Dons defence, but his handful of shots from outside the box in the final minutes were never enough to trouble Rodrigo Vitols.
He did however force Dons skipper Vitols into a smart block in the 88th minute as he played a great 1-2 with Accies substitute Bradley Gibson, but his driven cross was well parried by the Latvian.
Hamilton had the final chance of the game when Cole Hay and Aaron Eadie combined well down the right flank, before Eadie sent a brilliant cross into a dangerous area which went through numerous bodies before finding Jude Bell at the back-post who turned home, but his consolation goal was deemed to be offside.
The final whistle blew as the young Dons were rewarded for a professional performance and were ultimately deserved 3-0 winners over a tough Hamilton side.