Aberdeen 2 - 2 Dundee

Curran Safest Man in Home Defence

THERE appears to be no logical reason why a natural two-footed player should not do equally well on either side of the field, but things don't appear to work that way with George Hamilton, the Aberdeen skipper.

At Pittodrie on Saturday the Dons drew 2-2 with Dundee, but it wasn't until Hamilton, making his first appearance since the opening day of the season, switched places with Stenhouse shortly after half-time that Dundee looked like losing their grip.
Hamilton certainly was more like his old self when he moved to the right, but over the whole game he wasn't nearly so effective as Stenhouse, who was a tireless forager and often altered the run of play with long solo bursts.

Curran Injured

Twenty minutes after the start Curran dived at the feet of two oncoming forwards to avert a certain second goal. He was taken off suffering from slight concussion and did not resume until after the interval.
Willie Millar made a valiant deputy, and despite their numerical superiority the Dundee team did not score again. With Gallagher and Boyd in close support of the forwards, the visitors were still on top after the interval, but Curran proved the safest member of the home defence.
His clutching of high balls was particularly good, and gradually Aberdeen threw off the shackles. The switch of the inside forwards also brought Kelly to life.
The centre forward became the hero of his side with two goals within five minutes. Just when Dundee looked like losing both points the Aberdeen defence, which had been suspect all afternoon, faltered again and lost a second goal.

Follon Best Back

Neither of the Aberdeen backs was as reliable as Follon, whose speed was an asset against Pearson. Cowan, the Canadian, kicked splendidly for Dundee, but gave the impression that he would be flustered under pressure.
The Aberdeen half-backs put in plenty of work in defence, but they couldn't come through with the ball in the same manner as Gallagher and Boyd. Both Cowie and Roy were shaky at centre half.
In the Dundee attack all eyes were on the Aberdonians. Gerrie and Fraser. The former was disappointing, but Fraser made a good impression and his flicks and sudden dummies made things awkward for Roy.
The former 25th Old Boys' leader scored the best goal of the game five minutes after the start. He collected the ball from Andrews and beat Roy before hammering the ball hard and high past Curran.
Kelly's equaliser half an hour after the restart was cleverly taken after he had beaten Cowie, but the home leader was unmarked five minutes later when he nodded down Pearson's cute lob from the bye-line.
There were seven minutes left for play when Fraser and Rattray led a Dundee raid. The ball could have been cleared, but it broke through, to Rattray, whose shot landed the corner of the net.

Source: Press & Journal, 26th September 1949