Aberdeen 2 - 2 Motherwell

At Pittodrie Park, Aberdeen, in presence of 7000 spectators. In the first half, Aberdeen monopolised the play, their forwards and half-backs showing to advantage. Motherwell set up a splendid defence, however, the backs exhibiting fine resource in clearing their lines. After a lot of pressure, Soye opened the scoring for Aberdeen. Ten minutes later, Johnstone equalised for Motherwell. The teams crossed over level - one goal each. Motherwell took the lead shortly after the restart, Robertson scoring. Aberdeen fell off somewhat, while the visitors improved. Fifteen minutes from time Simpson equalised the game, and came very near adding a third, but McDonald cleared finely. Result :- Aberdeen, two goals; Motherwell, two goals.

Source: The Scotsman, 25th October 1909

Considerable interest centred in the meeting of Aberdeen and Motherwell at Pittodrie on Saturday, as on the issue would largely depend chance of the northern club once more attaining the leading position on the Scottish League list, which they lost a week ago. The weather was favourable, there being practically no wind and a good, dry pitch. Mr. Riddell, Edinburgh had charge of the game, and the teams were:-

Aberdeen: Mutch; Colman, Hume; Wilson, Moffat, Miller; H. Murray, Simpson, Soye, O'Hagan, Lennie.
Motherwell: McDonald; Gillespie, Mclean; McNeil, Taylor, Nicol; Johnston, Davidson, Murray, Gray, Robertson.

Motherwell, who turned out the same lot has defeated Saint Mirren and last week, made off from the start, but a shard of laughter rose from the crowd when Hume stop the invasion for the moment by bringing the ball down with his fist. It was only a moment before Aberdeen were operating at the other end, and Wilson was the first to call upon McDonald to handle, dropping a shot into the custodians arms. It was early evident that the visiting defence comprise the pair of strong punters, and this, combined with the bustling work of the halves, kept the Aberdeen attack well out from the goal. It was pleasing to see that the once famous Aberdeen left wing pair were showing signs of coming back to their old form, but while they made good headway at times, their reward was only a series of throws-in from the touch line. Hard but somewhat uninteresting work in the outfield was the order until Colman kicked well out and gave Lennie a chance. The little favourite accepted it, and worked up nicely in conjunction with O'Hagan. Had the right moment the Irishman, when he had drawn the defence, swung the sphere across to the opposite wing, where Murray diddled round Mclean and centred. It was the first exciting moment, and when the custodian was clearing from Soye and O'Hagan he stuck to the ball rather long, probably justifying the claim of the crowd for a foul. McDonald's clearance was only partial, however, and Miller was cheered for extricating the ball and bursting through the opposition. His finish was bad, however, and the final effort went wide of the mark. A left wing men were keen, and they played tricks with McNeil and Gillespie before sending over to the right. Here Murray proved the better man than the clean, and the back was penalised for an infringement, but the advantage brought nothing. Motherwell played with vigour, but Colman and Hume were always equal to the attack. The right wing came into prominence now, and O'Hagan made a good effort to finish their work, getting in a clever shot, which the custodian caught on the line. The home forwards were playing the proper game, swinging the ball across the field. Lennie and O'Hagan carried the attack close in, and then allowed the right wing to finish. The backs were wandered, and an astute move by the right gave Soye a clear goal, which he did not fail to place. Not satisfied with this, Aberdeen were back immediately, and McDonald had hard work in keeping out number two. Motherwell had a turn at the aggressive work, but Colman, with a strong punt, sent to Lenny and Gillespie off on a sprint for the ball. The back got up, but had to kick behind his own goal to clear. The constant pressure was telling on the tempers of the Motherwell men, and the referee had frequently to sound his whistle for flagrant offenses. The game had been in progress about half-an-hour, and up to this stage Mutch had not been called upon wants to handle the ball. Then a strange thing happened. Johnston and Davidson led the attack, and Hume was circumvented. Colman obtained relief by kicking out, but the right wing stuck to their work, and secured a corner. Johnston kicked in from the corner flag, dropping a twisting ball in front of the goal. The sphere curled in words, and although Mutch, whose view was blocked by the crowd of players, drove at it with his fist, he failed to get that square on, and the ball spun into the net. It was a lucky goal, and the visitors scarcely merited the point. Filed by this unexpected reverse, the Aberdeen front line put on the screw, and the Motherwell defence were hard put to it to uphold their citadel. Simpson had a rare try from long range, and in the course of the ensuing pressure Lennie brought relief by placing behind. The visitors had a fruitless run up, and then Murray flashed down the wing, and met Mclean. The back took no risks, and first pushed and then deliberately tripped the wing man. Undaunted, however, Murray caught the ball before it went over the line, and squared beautifully in front of Macdonald. In a trice Soye had the ball in the net, but McLean's offense was two flagrant, and the whistle had gone, so that the point was not allowed. The siege was not raised, and after Macdonald had fisted out a deadly shot from Wilson, Simpson got at the ball and sent in a terrific shot. The ball rattled the upright and came out, but had the direction been a few inches inward, the keeper would have been helpless. Aberdeen were at it all together now, and just before the interval, McDonald's charge had a narrow escape. Murray again proved more than a match for Mclean, and got a rare cross, which Lennie drove hard for goal. The keeper threw himself at the ball and got it round the post. Lennie kicked in from the corner, and whistle sounded time. Motherwell had great reason to be grateful that they were able to cross on equal terms.

On the resumption Hume showed weakness, and a dangerous invasion was turned in time. Aberdeen had a corner at the end, and then the visiting right wing came down in business-like fashion. A brief tussle ensued on the line, and the ball came out to Murray, who slipped it across to the left, where Robertson was lying handy and uncovered. He was close to the goal and slipped the ball in quite easily without giving Mutch a chance. It was a tactical blunder by the Aberdeen defence, and the strangers took advantage of the opening very cleverly. Motherwell were now playing a much better game, and Taylor at centre-half was prominent in tackling and feeding his own forwards. It was hard work in the outfield. O'Hagan and Lennie got agoing, and, along with Soye, made good headway. It was by no means a clear goal, but had the pivot maintained his equilibrium at the critical moment, there might have been more sting in the shot with which he tested McDonald. Keeping the ball well within the Motherwell territory, Aberdeen tried hard to get an opening, but apart from a hot shot sent in by Murray, McDonald had not much to do in covering up a strong defence of his backs. It was now more of a give-and-take game, with neither of the custodians of idle. O'Hagan put an end to a spell of play in midfield and gave his partner a chance, Lennie wormed his way in and delivered a hot shot, which McDonald almost failed to gather. The crowd raced a cry for goal, but darkness was rapidly coming down, and it was difficult to decide whether the ball was actually over the line. Aberdeen were always on the attack now, and McDonald had an exciting time of it. The whole of the Aberdeen front line was on the aggressive, and Soye sent in a try, which the custodian managed to get that with nothing to spare. A foul against Motherwell was kicked by Colman direct for goal, and the keeper had to turn it over the bar. Aberdeen did not deserve to be one down and their long pressure was ultimately rewarded. There was a spell of long potting of a more or less aimless character, but Simpson sprang a surprise on the visitors when, with a splendid delivery, he completely beat McDonald. This seemed to rouse the enthusiasm of spectators and players alike. Murray and Simpson had a promising run, but Mclean nipped in and stopped the rush. The ball was brought across to Lenny, who tried a long shot, but without avail. It came as a change when Motherwell assumed the aggressive, and an unusual lack of judgment by Colman almost let Aberdeen down again. Gray and Robertson were both left clear, but the outside man made a wild attempt to score, lifting the sphere high over the bar. The visitors were over-anxious to get in, and were frequently pulled up for offside. With only 3 minutes to go the teams were still level, and during the remainder of the game the ball swung from end to end without either keeper being seriously tried.

SUMMING UP

Aberdeen's strength lay in their attack, and on the performance of the front line alone the homesters were worthy of a win by at least one goal. The whole five work well in combination, and were in strong contrast to the Motherwell quintette. Moffat and Taylor were the best of the half-backs, and the Motherwell defenders were probably stronger than the Aberdeen backs. Mutch had less to do than McDonald, but both were good.

The attendance was about 6000, and the drawings approximately amounted to £160.

Source: Aberdeen Daily Journal, 25th October 1909

A DRAW AT PITTODRIE.

Last week we had occasion to remark that the Aberdeen forwards played very poorly, and lost the game at Shawfield. On Saturday, at Pittodrie, the defence made two mistakes, and thus presented Motherwell with a point which they did not deserve on play. Contrary to general expectation, the management decided in playing the same eleven that lost to Clyde against Motherwell, and their wisdom was justified, for the team played capital football, and were superior to their opponents in every way. The visitors expressed themselves prior to the start as being quite able to win, but, play had not long started before they began to realise their task was a hit harder than they had hargained. for.
Soye, by a brilliant move, had the hall in the net fifteen minutes after the start, but there are many who think the player was off-side when he received the ball. If, that was so, it was compensation for the one he scored later on - a beauty which the referee chalked off, and gave a free kick for Murray being illegitimately interefered with. While Aberdeen were doing the bulk of pressing, Motherwell got a corner off Hume, which was well-placed. The man who changes his mind in the middle of an exciting incident is sure to make a mistake, and this is what Mutch did. He intended to fist the ball and was advised to leave it alone, but the fist was up, and the ball touched it - a goal resulting. On play this was not deserved, for it was the only time the goalkeeper was asked to do anything. Then with Soye's next effort disallowed, and a splendid effort by Lennie thrown behind, half-time arrived all square - one goal each.

Scarcely three minutes had gone, when another misunderstanding between Wilson and Colman let the inside left score one of the softest goals we have seen this season, and here again Mutch made a stupid effort in saving. It was certainly the goalkeeper's off-day, and it is a good job for the club he is not often taken that way. What an amount of excitement existed 'till Simpson got his side level with a shot that was unsaveable from short range. It was the best goal of the match, and while Bert Murray and Lennie had hard lines immediately after, the game ended even - 2 goals each.

THE PLAYERS.,/p> Motherwell possess a fine-balanced tea. McDonald kept a splendid goal, and of the two backs McLean impressed us most, while Taylor put in some grand work at centre half. In the forward line the extreme wing men - Johnstone and Robertson were most prominent, while Murray posseeses all the qualifications for a good cantre. On the home side, Muteh got little to do, and was not his usual in what he had to do. Hume made some very had mistakes, but his partner, Colman, covered them several times, and was the best back on the field. Moffat was best in the middle line, both in placing and accuracy in shooting, while the forwards were all on a level, the only man who seems to be off a bit just now is Lennie, who is not the shot he once was - or, perhaps, to put it more accurately., he is off colour a bit just now, but will come again

CHATTY BITS.

Scotland won her first international on Monday, defeating Ireland bx 2-0.
It was quite evident the home side were not exerting themselves to any extent, otherwise they should have scored more goals.
Owing to an attack of lumbago, Lennie had to cry off from the, International against Ireland on Monday.
The clever left-winger will have to stand down from the Falkirk igiame on Saturday, and the front line will be reconstituted in consequence to Simpson, Tom Murray, Soye, O'Hagan, and Bert Murray.
Aberdeen have arranged a nice Christmas fair. On Christmas Day they play Airdrieonians, and then cross to Ireland, where they meet Belfast Distillery on the Monday, returning hone on Tuesday to prepare for Dundee on New Year's Day.
If the terms are suiable, the International hockey game between England and Scotland will be played at Pittodrie next March.
Aberdeen A got a severe gruelling at Motherwell on Saturday. The weather was wretched, and the forwards could not get the ball to travel at all. Over and above that, King gave away a couple of goals to the home side by failing to hold the greasy ball
It is not expected that C. V. MacEchern will be available for this week against Falkirk A. More's the pity, as he may be required at ally time in the first team should any accident occur.
Aberdeen have a certain amount of satisfaction in their draw with Motherwell for this season. Last year they lost all four points to the Fir Parkerrs, but they have a point in hand with a game to play.
The topic of the week has been the reinstatement of Bobby Walker in the Hearts team. He made amends to the directors last week, and was included in the team against Hibs on Saturday.
After beating St Johnston at the third meeting, Forfar succumbed to Leith Athletic in the Qualifying ties on Saturday. Elgin city also bade farewell to the ties, being defeated by Inverness Thistle by 1-0 on Saturday.
After making their position for the Scottish Cup certain, both Particle Thistle and Morton have got knocked out of the Qualifying ties by playing their reserve teams. The former were defeated by Bathgate, and the latter by Ayr.

Source: Bon-Accord, 28th October 1909