Aberdeen 0 - 1 Brechin City

A crowd of about 2000 witnessed the match between Aberdeen A and Brechin City at Pittodrie on Saturday. The weather was summer-like - ideal for the spectators, were rather warm for the players. The teams were:-

Aberdeen A: King; Hannah, Stevens; Davidson, J. J. Simpson, Macfarlane; Hay, Towns, Roberts, Ritchie, H. Murray.
Brechin City: C. Hampton; Chapman, J. F. Lyon; Campbell, Hampton, Ramsay; Easson, Burnett, Glen, H. Hampton, Laing.
Referee - Mr. J Winter, Dundee.

In the first half, in which Brechin faced the sun and a slight breeze, the Aberdeen team did nearly all the attacking, and while the play of their forwards in the open was clever, and the combination really good, there finishing was execrble, and numerous chances of scoring were lost through bad shooting and nervous eagerness at close quarters, with a pair of resolute backs, and an eagle-eyed, sure-handed goalkeeper. Indeed, the strong tackling and kicking and heading of Lyon, and the brilliant goal-keeping of C. Hampton were the principle features of a first half in which the inferior team were lucky enough to score the only goal of the much. An outstanding piece of play it was a marvelous save by King, the Aberdeen goalkeeper. Glen, the forceful, rushing Brechin centre forward, came tearing into goal with the ball at his foot. With great coolness, King stepped out, and swerving to one side, he lifted the ball from Glen's toes, and sent it afield, for which feat he was deservedly cheered. King could not be blamed for the goals scored against him. Brechin were attacking briskly, when one of the Aberdeen defenders made a bad kick, sending the ball straight to the foot of H. Hampton, who, without hesitating, drove it high into the net with great force, the goalkeeper having little chance to save. At times Aberdeen's pressure on the Brechin goal could only be described as a perpetual bombardment, but they failed to score.

The second half was pretty much a repetition of the first, Aberdeen attacking most of the time, and the defence mastering the van at both ends of the field. The Aberdeen forwards and half-backs did everything but score, and much of the ineffectiveness at close quarters was due to Lyon's untiring energy and the Brechin goalkeeper's steadiness under fire. King did not get much to do, but ones save, in which he turned a somersault without losing the ball, was loudly cheered. To the spectators the result was a disappointing one, as the A team were much the superior combination, and played exceptionally good football in the outfield, failure to finish well against a strong and at times extremely lucky defence accounting for their defeat.

Gate and stands, £32.

Source: Aberdeen Daily Journal, 12th April 1909

Aberdeen "A" Unlucky.

In their concluding home fixture in the Northern League, Aberdeen "A" made one of their worst appearances for some time back.
Brechin City were seldom in the picture, but they got there once, and a hard drive by Hampton collared the points. Corner after corner fell to the "A" team without result, opportunities innumerable presented themselves, to be rushed down or go past the post by inches. They coud do everything but score. Glen had one or two of his individual rushes, but Hannah or King knew how to keep him from doing damage. The pressure was too much at one end to make the game interesting; what the spectators waited for was a goal for Aberdeen, but it never came, the City taking away the points with the on1y bit of luck during the afternoon.

Source: Bon-Accord, 15th April 1909