Aberdeen 1 - 0 Kilmarnock

The opening period was a fairly tight affair although Aberdeen may well have had a penalty when John Stewart appeared to have been upended inside the box. Stephen Tarditi also went close following an excellent Richard Buckley delivery while Michele Lombardi, making his debut at this level, saw a shot go agonizingly wide.

Kilmarnock almost took the lead early in the second half when a clever Steven Naismith lob trickled wide of the upright but it was the Dons who broke the deadlock with 57 minutes on the clock.

Fergus Tiernan played an excellent ball through to Lombardi, who was brought down inside the area for an obvious penalty. STEWART stepped up to give Graeme Smith no chance. The Dons scorned several opportunities to increase their advantage, notably from Lombardi who failed to convert a Buckley cross, and Tarditi and Tiernan, who were both not far away with close range efforts.

Manager Neil Cooper was understandably pleased to pick up three more points. "I'm delighted with the boys. We were very solid defensively while Michele Lombardi did well in his first game for the 21's. He's been performing well for the under 19's recently and he's given himself something to build on."