Montrose 1 - 4 Aberdeen

The Dons were then punished for some uncertain defending Tosh failed to clear and Graeme Sharp drilled the ball past Esson from 12 yards. Aberdeen were seeing a lot of the ball at this stage but doing very little with the possession as Montrose were quick to close them down. In the 24th minute Foster got his head to a Morrison cross but only succeeded in steering the ball into Butler's arms. A minute later McGuire did well to block a Smith effort that had looked net bound. In 35 minutes McGuire turned provider as he delivered a great pass to Foster. Unfortunately the youngster was unable to control the ball and it ran out of play.

Aberdeen were finally beginning to put some decent passages of play together and their pressure forced a couple of corners. Then in the 42nd minute the ball broke to Morrison and he hit a rocket shot that came crashing off the crossbar with Butler beaten. Montrose posted a warning that they were still a danger when Esson had to look lively a minute later to deny Smart. In the final minute of the half Aberdeen went route one and found Foster, but Montrose defended well and cleared the danger.

Jimmy Calderwood reverted to a 4-4-2 formation after the break with Tiernan replacing the injured McGuire and Adams being pushed further forward. The change made an immediate impact when within a minute Tosh found Adams and clever play by the ex-Motherwell man forced Montrose to concede a penalty. It may have been a bit soft, but Adams made no mistake as he fired the ball high into the net to level. In the 49th minute a swivel and shot from Craig was comfortably held by Butler and a minute later the keeper denied Diamond with another fine save from a powerful header. Montrose broke in the 55th minute setting up Smart with a good chance that he failed to capitalise on.

Tosh sent in a telling cross on the hour mark and Adams almost added to his tally as his header went inches over. Three minutes later Montrose went close again when their man of the match, Graeme Sharp, sent in a cross that beat the defenders and was thankfully gathered by Esson before the Montrose attack could react. The Dons grabbed the lead a minute later when a long ball from defence was skilfully controlled by Craig and thumped past Butler to cheer the Dons supporters in the 1,750 crowd. In the 70th minute Smart fired over for the home side before an Adams free kick was well blocked by the Montrose keeper.

The third goal came in the 78th minute when Heikkinen won the ball deep and released Tiernan. Adams met his cross glanced the header out of the reach of the keeper. Stewart replaced Foster in the 79th minute and made an immediate impact with a powerful run down the left. Unfortunately play was halted as Severin was adjudged to have committed a foul. Aberdeen added a fourth three minutes from time when the keeper misjudged a high ball and Craig pounced to score. Sheerin replaced Severin a minute with the game won.