Aberdeen 0 - 0 Dundee A

The reserve elevens of the rival city's met at Pittodrie Park in the first round of the Dewar Shield competition on Saturday afternoon. There was an attendance of 3000 spectators. Teams:-

Up Aberdeen A: King; Hannah, Hume; Davidson, J. J. Simpson, Macfarlane; Hay, Towns, Wilson, Ritchie, H. Murray.
Dundee A: Philip; Dorward, Oswald; Hampton, Cranmer, Gowans; Lawson, Kemp, Sim, Dailly, Cooper.
Referee - Mr. D.J. Liddell, Glasgow.

Dundee, with the sun in their eyes, played west, and Davidson chipped in when Dailly was making ground. Murray raced off on the left, but ran the ball over the line. From the goal-kick, Hay got possession, and Philip had to fist out. Cooper then made off and beat Hannah, but the cross was cleared by Davidson. Wilson headed over Philip's charge. Hume was next prominent with a good clearance of a dangerous square by cooper. The footwork of kemp was magnificent, but Hume kept them well out of shooting reach of King. In a scrimmage, Hume got his ankle hot and had to be carried off. Aberdeen men played four forwards, Wilson going in the intermediate line and Macfarlane back. Even thus handicapped the homesters continued to hold their own, hesitation on the part of Towns and overdoing the dribbling hard by Murray, however, lost favourable opportunities. Fouls became frequent, and Gowans was admonished by the referee. Following upon a check for offside, Dundee bore down on King, and Lawson on one wing and Dailly on the other had shots which struck the uprights at either side of the goal. A foul relieved when cooper had the goal at his mercy. The visitors kept up the pressure, and shots from Lawson, Kemp, and Cranmer were blocked somewhat luckily. Ritchie was prominent with a beautiful mazy run, but his cross was badly skied by Hay, who retrieved himself a minute later by giving Philip two hot handfuls to get rid of. Hume, still limping, reappeared when Dundee were again becoming dangerous, and play was transferred to the other end, where Phillips cleared cleverly from Hay. At half-time there was no scoring.

Sim burst away on resuming, but Hannah relieved. Wilson then rushed the visitors' defence, and Oswald handled within the penalty line. The resultant kick was taken by Hannah, but Philip saved, and Wilson tipped the clearance wide of the goal. Play ruled very fast and fouls were by no means a rarity. Lawson and Kemp got going, but Hannah relieved, and then Wilson slipped out to Murray, who had a fast low drive at Phillip, who cleared finely. This started along invasion by Aberdeen. Time and again Oswald and Dorward were beaten, but Philip was always ready, his saving bringing out rounds of applause. For a time Aberdeen's forwards were irresistible, and it only seemed a matter of time ere goals would come, but again Phillips distinguished himself. Kemp then got off, out-manoeuvred a host of opponents, and landed the ball in the net, but cooper had previously got off side, and the effort was nullified. Back again raced to Aberdeen, and Murray had a hot shot, which Philip dealt with as he had done with previous efforts. From near midfield, Hume had a terrific drive, but Philip also cleared this. Right up to the finish of the game Aberdeen held the upper hand, but could not get the better of Phillip. According to the rules of the competition, half an hour extra should have been played when the game was a draw, but when the referee blew his whistle for a time, Dundee A left the field and refused to return. Aberdeen A launched a claim for the tie with a referee, and the matter will be brought before the association.

The gate amounted to £70.

Source: Aberdeen Daily Journal, 29th March 1909

Aberdeen A met Dundee ReserVes at Pittodrie before a large crowd, who were treated to a fine display of football. FOr the first half-hour there was little to chose between the two teams, who were wonderfully fast and clever on the ball. Hume got lamed early in the game, and this handicapped the home team somewhat, who had to play four forwards till the back reappeared. Had Hannah taken advantage of the penally given against Oswald for a deliberate handle inside the line, the game was (settled. Philip, however, made a marvellous save, and Wilson ought to have taken the rebound into the net instead of shooting hard over. Aberdeen with rare exceptions were never away from the Dundee goal, which underwent some narrow escapes. One breaking away nearly resulted in Dundee getting the lead, but the whistle blew before Kemp shot for the left wing getting palpably off-side. Right to the end the home side worked for the goal which never came, and at the end of the ninety minutes the scoring sheet was blank.
According to Dewar Shield Competition rules, "at the end of an hour-and-a-half, an extra half-hour shall be played" in the event of a draw. The Dundee officials knew this quite well, but they positively refused to allow their players to play longer. The referee was informed of the rule by the two Aberdeen representatives on the Cominittee, and he went to the pavilion and ordered the Dundee players back again, but he was informed they declined to come out. The crowd waited patiently to see the result, but went away quietly, though expressing their dissatisfaction at the unsportsmanlike attitude of the Dundee officials. Aberdeen have lodged a claim for the tie, which will be settled at the first meeting of the Dewar Shield Committee.

Source: Bon-Accord, 1st April 1909