Aberdeen 2 - 0 Peterhead

Peterhead went down fighting nobly at Pittodrie on Saturday in the final of the County competition against the Aberdeen Reserve eleven. No one who saw the match will dispute the fact that they died game; indeed, it was only in the last 10 minutes or so the homesters put the issue beyond doubt. Aberdeen got a goal in the opening minutes, but two at least were needed to make the trophy secure again for the club, a few weeks earlier Peterhead had emerged victorious by one goal to nil in the first of the two games whlch decided the final stage of the tournament. It was a neat header by Bowie in the closing stages that ousted the Buchan team, who played a hard and plucky game throughout.

EARLY GOAL.

Aberdeen's opening goal came before the visitors had got time to settle down. Main broke through on the right, and fired in a shot with such force that Lawrie could only palm out. Bowie was on the spot and had no difficulty in beating the custodian before he had recovered from the outside right's stinging drive. Even with such an early count against them, however, the visitors never lost heart, and buckled to with a will, the play of their left wing being purposeful and accurate. Beagrie was their live wire, and the inside left gave Cunningham a fright on several occasions with the speed and strength of his shooting powers. Had E. Gray just steadied himself before electing to shoot he could hardly have failed to get the equaliser, but, as it was, his shot went over instead of under the crossbar.
While Aberdeen had slightly the better in the first half, it must be admitted that their forwards - Main excepted - were woefully weak in front of goal, principally due to the sterling defensive play of Lawrie, Aitken, and Inglis, but also to the common failing of leaving it to the other fellow.
A one-sided aspect came over the game for good a portion of the half when the homesters got a grip of the game, and refused to allow the visitors to shake off their hold entirely. Peterhead still had a shot or two left in the locker, however, and a plucky run by A. McRobbie ended beating Cunningham from an angle, but the ball hit the post and rebounded into play. This was hard lines in the extreme, but it was counter-balanced at the other end when the upright came to the rescue of the visitors when a drive by Davidson, through a crowd of players, was going all the way.

PETERHEAD'S FINE DEFENCE.

Aberdeen kept up a pretty constant pressure, but it seemed as if they would not break down the stonewall defence of the visitors, which covered up every likely opening. Training and stamina told, however, and it was only their due when Main flashed over a fine centre which Bowie jumped to and headed past Lawrie.
The Peterhead defenders covered themselves with glory in a gruelling second half, Campbell, Aitken, and Lawrie being particularly prominent. In the forward line Beagrie and A. Gray were the only two who seemed able to progress against a strong Aberdeen half-back line, in which Dick was prominent. Sutherland and Ritchie were a good pair of backs, albeit shaky under pressure, and Cunningham was safe in goal. Forward, Main was the man who mattered, although Cosgrove also gave a good account of himself. About 5000 witnessed the game, which was refereed by A. Penny.

A CUP MONOPOLY.,

At the subsequent presentation of the cup and badges, reference was made by Mr George Watt, president the Aberdeenshire and District Football Association, to the monotonous regularity with which the trophy went to the Aberdeen club. In the last 25 years, he said, it had only been three times out the custody of the club, and he hoped that better luck would attend the provincial teams in future. W. Philip, chairman of the Aberdeen club, who accepted the trophy, agreed with the chairman that the club had held it too often, and also hoped that the monopoly would be broken more often in future years.

Source: Press & Journal, 13th April 1925