Aberdeen 2 - 1 Kilmarnock

History has a habit of repeating itself. The Dons' late winner against Kilmarnock recalled vividly to mind the 1947 first round tie  at Pittodrie and he famous Willie Cooper goal against Partick Thistle.
There were but three minutes left for play when Aberdeen's veteran right back pulled off a 100-1 shot in that game.
Do you remember the clrcumstances? The ball was headed out and ran loose following a corner by McCall. Cooper, who had wandered up the right, beat Sharp, the Firhill inside right, for possession. He sent a high ball goalwards, Cooper fell.

OF the 34.000 people at Pittodrie that day the right back was probably the only one who didn’t see the goal. The ball sailed over the heads of the Aberdeen and Partick players bunched in the penalty area and entered the net at the angle of the crossbar and the post.
There were only two minutes left for play on Saturday when Boyd rattled home the vital goal against Killie.
While there was an element of luck about Cooper's goal, Aberdeen's winner on Saturday was a well-taken affair. Rodger and Pearson played a part in the leading up work, but most of the credit must go to Baird, who swerved his way past two opponents before parting to Boyd.

IN 1947, after their "break” in the Partick game, the Dons went on to make football history winning the Scottish Cup. Dare we hope that history will repeat itself?
Any team which wins the national competition must be on terms with Lady Luck, but it takes fighting spirit, skill and team-work as well as an occasional smile from the fickle lady to achieve success.
The Dons will have to play a lot better than they did against Kilmarnock to stay the pace this year.
They monopolised play for long snells. particularly in the second half, but too often there was hesitancy and confusion in attack.

I THOUGHT lan Rodger was as good a forward as Aberdeen had on Saturday. He showed plenty of dash, and tried hard to keep the line moving, and this despite the fact that he was faced Thyne, the Ayrshire team's outstanding player.
It Is difficnlt to tee how the Pittodrie management can move Rodger on his present form, but I feel that any future cup plans must include George Hamilton somewhere in the front line. He was standing by at Pittodrle on Saturday, but he is too valuable a player to be left on the idle list.

AND, finally, a word of commiseration for Kilmarnock. They put up a grand fight, particularly Thyne at centre-half, and the two backs, Collins and Hood. Few of the 19,000 crowd could have grudged them a second chance.

Source: Evening Express, 11th February 1952