Aberdeen 1 - 0 Falkirk

In view of the recent defeat of Aberdeen by Falkirk, and the fine form subsequently shown by the former, great interest was centred in the visit of the Bairns to Pittodrie on Saturday. The weather was ideal for the game, and there was an attendance of 9000 spectators. Under the supervision of Mr. A. A. Jackson, Glasgow, the teams took the field as follows:-

Aberdeen: King; Colman, Hume; Wilson, Wyllie, Millar, Soye, McIntosh, Murray, Travers, Lennie.
Falkirk: Stewart; Leishman, Orrock; McDonald, Morrison, McMillan; Simpson, Main, T. Logan, A. Logan, Brown.

Aberdeen commenced operations, and at once invaded, Tom Murray giving a weak shot to Stewart. Brown made an effort to reply, but Donald Colman turned him, and then followed a series of exchanges in midfield, in which both sets of forwards failed to show much combination. The local halves were worrying the strangers at every point, but weak work by the front line kept the game near the middle line. The Falkirk men were disappointing, and even the great Simpson failed to come into prominence. he had one try, but put no sting into it. Wilson, who was working hard, at last commenced an invasion. He passed back to Colman, and when Donald placed nicely to Soye, the wing man at once made progress. Hew drew the attack, and then squared across to Lennie. Foreman was hustled off the ball by Leishman and Mcdonald, but the lines were not cleared, and the ball hovered continually in stewart's vicinity. Orrock stood up well to the attack for a time, the defence began to waver, and there was some bad punting. Leishman made a mistake of this kind, and it led to Aberdeen getting the first point. Orrock to, along with the halves, tried to cover up the error, but Murray got on the ball at easy range, and a low, straight shot completely beat Stewart.
The game had only been a quarter of hour in progress. And once the locals were back, and when Orrock kicked behind another goal was looked for. Lennie dropped the sphere nicely in the goalmouth, but Stewart got his fist on it, and the situation was saved. For a time Lennie was plied with the ball, and Leishman had his hands full. Falkirk were seldom out of their own territory now. Soye, on the right, was crossing effectively, and on one occasion the chance was missed by the pivot, who failed to catch on to a square pass. The halves, too, joined in the attack, and a fine, raking shot by Millar almost pulled. There was no dubiety as to the superiority of Aberdeen at this stage, but later on Falkirk had some surprise rushes, and King had twice to look lively, although the shots were slightly off the mark. The referee had a fall, and twisted his knees slightly, but, after a little rubbing, Mr. Jackson was able to resume. Aberdeen moved upon Stewart again, and Tom Murray had hard lines with a quick shot on the run. Orrock next did a neat thing in turning Soye and McIntosh, and letting Brown away. The Falkirk left wing got past Colman, but Hume rushed across and conceded a corner, which proved fruitless. Running and counter-running was the order now. Aberdeen lost four was almost a certain goal through Lennie. Soye centred, and Lennie missed his punt, leaving the winger uncovered but only Stewart to beat. Lennie let drive, but his direction was lamentable, and the crowd groaned. In the midst of an attack just before half-time, Morrison was accidental eat kicked on the knee, and had to be taken to the pavilion. With a man short, Falkirk showed improved form, and attacked with vigour, and effort by Brown just scraping over the bar. On play in the first half, Aberdeen were well worth the one-goal lead, which might have been more had the forwards been in the same form as the halves and backs.

On resuming, Morrison came out again and took the outside left position, with Brown inside. Morrison was very lame, but he played to the finish, and was occasionally useful. Soye had a good try on the right, but almost at once Simpson of Falkirk responded. It was really the first bit of brilliant forward work. He wriggled through the halves and backs, and with a small margin to spare got in a nice cross. Fortunately for Aberdeen, the opposite wing were not up, and the lines were cleared. Aberdeen made up on the right again in combination with Murray, and finally got the ball. A shot might have done the trick, but in trying to get at close range Lennie was hustled off the ball. Gradually Falkirk assumed the aggressive, and the game ruled in front of King's charge. Simpson was the initiator of the attack, and when he squared nicely Main directed the ball properly. The sphere was going straight for the net when an awkward fist by King sent it over the bar. The home middle line worked hard, but received little support from the forwards, so that the attack on Stewart was of a spasmodic and weak order. Soye was the hardest and most effective worker in the front line, but Stewart was always ready for the long shots which came from the touch line.

A PECULIAR INCIDENT

Falkirk were certainly doing much better now, and a persistent attack was crowned - or appeared to be - with success. It was a peculiar incident. The visitors' left had come close up, and a hard drive at close range found the net and stuck there. King picked the ball out of the tangled meshes, but there seemed to be some doubt as to the legitimacy of the point. The referee signalled a goal kick, and the Falkirk men at once protested. There was a protracted altercation, but apparently the referee decided that the ball had come in through the side net, and Falkirk had to continue fighting for the equaliser, which was certainly deserved on play. The disappointment had the effect of stirring up the Bairns, who now played determinedly. Only at times did Aberdeen make progress, and generally it was Soye who was responsible. The right wing man placed a nice low cross to Murray, but the pivot skied the ball, and the chance was gone. Latterly Falkirk completely mastered Aberdeen, but they could not find the net. In the last minutes a corner was badly placed by Leishman, and this was the final chance, the game ending with play in midfield. On the whole it was a scrappy game, without any feature, but Falkirk did not deserve to be a goal down.

The drawings amounted to over £200.

Source: Aberdeen Daily Journal, 26th September 1910

Aberdeen engaged Falkirk on Saturday in the League competition, and were awarded the points by scoring the only goal of the game about which there was no doubt. On viewing the team as they played on Saturday, and comparing it with what we saw at Ibrox, one would almost be tempted to think it was not the same eleven at all. There was plenty of earnest work going, but it very often lacked method, and in this respect the visitors' middle line were greatly to blame. Their play may be best described as "spoiling," which they succeeded in performing creditably to themselves, because it kept the home side from doing anything in the way of good combination.

We had high hopes of witnessing a great game, but after fifteen minutes' good work to begin with, the rest could only be described as scrappy. The work which led up to Murray scoring was brilliant, the home attack having entirely the better of the argument. The excitement got the better of the players, so much so that between two of them the referee was placed "hors de combat" for a little, and we wondered if he would have to retire for repairs. It would have been a unique incident for the game to have been stopped while the "whistle blower" received first aid from Trainer Simpson. What a kick-up there would have been had Mr Jackson been compelled to stop the game!
The attentions of Hume and Millar soon brought him round, however. From this point the defence was always more prominent than the attack, and the goals that were missed proved that the forwards had lost their usual coolness in front of goal. It was positively appalling to watch both sides in their efforts to score - one was as bad as the other - and served to show what bad marksmen footballers can be when off their game.
The first half ended without further incident, and there was little in the second period to record except further misses at goalmouth, when chances that would have disgraced second-raters were lost. The incident of the game took place about fifteen minutes from the close, when Brown, of Falkirk, shot hard, but rather high, and the ball was got on the top of the net, King pulling it through a hole after he had satisfied himself that it was no goal. Falkirk claimed it was a goal, and the referee had to examine the net to make sure that his first impression was correct - no goal. The Falkirk officials and players maintained that the ball was inside the net, but they we're not clear as to how it got there. The Aberdeen players were equally positive that the ball was not in the net, and say it was impossible, from the angle at which the player shot, that a goal could have accrued. The point is disputable, and the defending side got the benefit of the doubt, so that Aberdeen ran out winners by 7-0 of a poor game for teams with the reputations of Falkirk and Aberdeen.

PLAY AND PLAYERS.

With the exception of the defence, Aberdeen's team did not cover themselves with glory after their splendid performance at Ibrox. The forwards were off, and bar Macintosh gave the poorest display they have yet served up. The middle line and defence were all there, and it was no fault of theirs that the team did not win by a few goals.
On the Falkirk side, Stewart was safe in goal, but we did not like the one-back game adopted in the second half, nor did we fancy Leishman and Orrock as above ordinary. The halves put in a tremendous amount of hard work - often fruitless, while their star forward was undoubtedly the great "Jocky" Simpson. He was clever, and his crosses accurate. Logan never shone, and Wilson held the left pair well in hand. As a line they were no better than the home lot, and made many bad mistakes.

Source: Bon-Accord, 29th September 1910