Aberdeen 0 - 2 Kilmarnock

Craig Brown made no changes to the side that defeated Motherwell in the Scottish Cup, five days previous. They lined up withLangfield, Robertson, Rae, Considine, Vernon, McGinn, Hayes, Fallon, Magennis, Reynolds and Shaughnessy.

Both teams started brightly and it was the visitors who created the first real chance on 4 minutes when a ball was played in behind the Dons defence and Gary Harkins shot just wide of the right hand post.

At the other end the Dons won their first corner on 8 minutes after a Gavin Rae shot deflected over the cross bar. The home side applied good pressure from the resultant corner and eventually Hayes swung in a great cross from the right but no one was there to take advantage and Cammy Bell saved.

Aberdeen began to dominate the game and were showing some nice passages of play without ever creating too many chances and it was the visitors who forced Langfield into making a good save on 19 minutes when Liam Kelly went close. The home side raced up the park and Josh Magennis unleashed a shot from long range which went well wide of the post.

On 29 minutes Johnny Hayes floated in a cross towards Rory Fallon and Joe Shaughnessy and it was the youngster who got his head to hit but it went just over the bar. A good passage of play involving Hayes, Rae, McGinn and Shaughnessy led to a corner but again the Dons couldn't make anything of it.

Hayes was playing well against Mo Sissoko and after a Dons break, the Killie player was booked for tackling the Irishman illegally. From the resultant free kick Sheridan hammered the ball out of play for another corner.

The game then took a turn for the worst for the Dons. In comfortable possession in midfield, Scott Vernon gave the ball away and Perez picked it up and raced into the box. Jamie Langfield tried to narrow the angle and went to ground and the Spaniard soon followed. Whether or not Jamie touched the player or not, referee Craig Charleston blew for a foul and sent the keeper off. Jason Brown was sent on to replace Rory Fallon and his first task was to pick the ball out of the net after Kelly slammed the resultant penalty passed the Welshman.

HT 0-1

The home side started the second half reasonably well despite their one man deficit- Clark Robertson shot wide early on. Killie also had a chance when Kelly crossed and Sheridan shot just wide of the post.

On 56 minutes the Dons had the ball in the back of the net but referee Charleston adjudged that there had been a foul by Magennis on Cammy Bell. A few moments later Hayes was cautioned by the referee for dissent as the Red Army also began to get more frustrated in the stands.

A dangerous long throw from Magennis caused havoc in the Kilmarnock box before McGinn shot over the bar. A short time later Magennis himself had the Dons best chance of the game when he unleashed a shot from 40 yards that had Cammy Bell beaten all ends up. Unfortunately for the Dons the shot crashed off the cross bar and bounced awkwardly for McGinn who couldn't make anything of the rebound.

Andrew Considine was then replaced by Jamie Masson on 70 minutes and not long after a powerful Niall McGinn free kick had to be parried away by Bell.

The Dons continued to have lost of possession with Killie posing little in the way of a threat at the other end and it was difficult to tell which team were playing with just 10 men. Craig Brown then made his third and final change of the game with Declan McManus replacing Joe Shaughnessy, who had impressed again.

The change was to have little effect on the game though and on 86 minutes, Killie hit Aberdeen with a hammer blow when they broke up field and Liam Kelly fired home his and his side's second goal. The home side continued to battle away in the final minutes but their play failed to yield anything and the game ended 2 nil to the visitors.