Airdrie 2 - 1 Aberdeen

Onus on Officials: League Position Serious
By NORMAN MACDONALD

FROM triumph to tragedy. That, in brief, is the history of Aberdeen F.C. in the short space of seven months.
Last April they won the Scottish Cup. They were on top of the world. To-day they are located at the foot of the League table. Only Queen's Park and Morton are in a worse plight.

The position is serious. The only solution is the acquisition of new players. The sooner they are found, the sooner will the Dons again sound a challenge in Scottish football.
Aberdeen have been badly hit by injuries to players and unfortunately they do not appear to possess the reserve strength.
The second team is deeper in the toils than the League side. They will have few friends left after their latest failure at Pittodrie.
Efforts have been made by the officials to obtain new blood. Most of the clubs in Scotland who have the type of men wanted bv Aberdeen have been approached. The answer has invariably been " No."

Poor Finishing

The onus still rests on the officials. All they can do is to keep trying and cast a wider net.
The Dons didn't deserve to be beaten 2-1 at Airdrie. A draw would have left the Broomfield Park side with little reason for complaint.
A win for Aberdeen would have been better and this might well have been achieved but for the carpet-slipper finishing of the forwards.
In the first half particularly their attacks were well conceived. They became too involved inside the penalty area, however. Consequently the Pittodrie forwards made a moderate Airdrie defence look good.

McCall Unlucky

Shooting has become something of a lost art with the Aberdeen forwards. Why, only they know and onlv they can produce the remedy.
The one exeption on Saturday was Willie McCall. The inside left showed a refreshing willingness to have a go. Not all his shots were on the mark, but he was a trier, and for that he was to be commended.
As a matter of fact, he was unlucky not to score a second goal with a hard drive which struck the upright five minutes from the end.
The Aberdeen backs played well and again Cowie frequently adopted the role of half back.

Not One Good Goal

There wasn't a good goal in the three scored. Johnstone perhaps couldn't be blamed for the loss of the first one in thirteen minutes. He went down stop a powerful drive from Picken. The wet ball eluded his grasp and G. Watson was there to add the finishing touch.
The winning goal eighteen minutes from the end was the result a simple cross from McCulloch. The 'keeper failed to push the ball over the bar. It struck the woodwork and dropped at the eager G. Watson's feet. The outside-left accepted the gift.
Downie, the Airdrie goalkeeper, seemed at fault when the Dons scored. It was a half hit shot by McCall, and the 'keeper unaccountably failed to hold the ball.

King-Pin of Defence

Kelly at centre-half was the king-pin of the Broomfield defence, but the most forcing half-back was Gibby McKenzie, the former Dundee player. He was the man behind most of the Airdrie attacks.
Bobby Flavell was a fast and eager leader of attack, and he and Picken worked well together. Scotland's reserve centre would be a big success in a clever forward line.

Source: Press & Journal, 10th November 1947