Stenhousemuir 1 - 1 Aberdeen

The performance of Aberdeen on Saturday fairly surprised us all. Of course you will come across the man who turns round and says "he knew it," but leaving this self named prophet out of the count, few of us believed the Aberdeen would have done so well against such a powerful club as the Stenhousemuir. The Stenhousemuir must have got a pretty firm grip of the top of the ladder, and it will take much good play on the part of other clubs to dislodge them from that position. But the season is young yet and much may happen between this and the end of it. No matter how it ends, we, up in this benighted North, can promise the other clubs in the competition a good fight for the top place. At present the Aberdeen are not yet second in the table, they are only fifth, and for the four games they have played they can just show the same number of points. To many this is not just exactly what they would have desired, but for want of better they will have to put up with it for the present. But the situation is not at all a dispiriting one - far from it, we say, and despite the columns of letters that have appeared in the papers about the players, we still think that the team is a good one. It is not exactly the team we would have got had we been admitted to the League, but as this favour has not yet been granted us, it would have been madness on the directors' part to get a team fit for the league to play Northern League matches. We admit that the present team could be strengthened in several places, and the directors have not forgotten it either, and are fully alive to the situation. Rome was not built in a day, neither will the Aberdeen have a team that will please all in a day.

Their performance on Saturday was a wonderful one. The Stenhousemuir drew in Aberdeen in the opening fixture of the season, and they no doubt confidently expected that they would take the full quota of points from us in the return fixture. But they counted without the Aberdeen. The Stenhousemuir, all accounts agree, had the better of the game, and had hard lines in not winning. But we cannot shed tears over their discomfiture, rather are we pleased that the game ended as it did. It is a decided feather in the Aberdeen's cap that they have been able to take two points from the Stenhousemuir, and if they do as well in all their other away fixtures, they will, as we said at the beginning, be able to make a good fight for the premier place.

Source: Bon-Accord September 17 1903

These teams met in a Northern League fixture at Stenhousemuir. Teams:- Aberdeen: Barrett; Willox, McGregor; Sangster, Strang, Ritchie; Skinner, Mackie, McKay, MacAulay, Johnstone. Stenhousemuir: Quinn; Mckie, Mirk; Fairlie, McBryde, Weir; Buchanan, Clarkson, McNair, brown, Shearer. Referee Mr. Cathro, Lochee United.

The opening stages of the game were mostly in favour of the Aberdonians, who had the advantage of a strong sun behind them, which greatly troubled the Stenhousemuir defence. Mackie early gave away a corner, but Skinner sent behind. Strong play by Weir forced Barratt to save, the Aberdeen custodian doing so rather easily. The Stenhousemuir defenders got a deal of work to do, but they rather easily coped with the attack, Quinn being never seriously tested. The first real try of the game came from Clarkson, which brought Barrett to his knees, the goalkeeper saving with much difficulty. Another good shot came from McBryde, but this time Barrett saved with distinction. Stenhousemuir were now warming to their work, and Buchanan was unfortunate to miss in front of goal. A dashing run by McKay in the centre transferred play to the Stenhousemuir end, but weak finishing spoiled the chance. A. McNair netted the ball from outside the 12 yard line, but a previous foul against Strang nullified the point. Mackie almost scored from the foul, Barrett saving on all fours. Stenhousemuir were in fine shooting form, and but for good saving by Barrett they would have been leading. Skinner broke away, and ten minutes form the interval scored first goal for Aberdeen. From a foul well played by Fairley, Stenhousemuir almost equalised.

On changing ends, Stenhousemuir with a clinking shot in the first minute nearly equalised. So far they had done all the pressing this half, but even with the aid of several corners and a couple of well-taken fouls close in they failed to score. Skinner almost repeated his performance of the first half by beating Quinn, his parting shot missing by inches. McNair was offered the best chance of the day to equalise from a pass by Buchanan, but he unaccountably failed. An accident to Clarkson stopped the proceedings, but the popular "Warrior" resumed play without leaving the field. At last the equaliser came, Shearer doing the trick twenty minutes from time. An exciting game resulted in a draw - 1 goal each.

Source: Aberdeen Journal, 14th September 1903