Aberdeen 2 - 2 St. Mirren

Aberdeen threw away a two goal lead when St Mirren came back from two goals behind to secure a share of the points at Pittodrie.

On the day Mark Reynolds was called up to Gordon Strachan's Scotland side, he gave The Dons the lead just before the break when he hammered the ball beyond Kello after a scramble in the box.

Peter Pawlett then made it 2-0 on 56 minutes when he finished neatly from a Hayes cross. Aberdeen were playing some very good attacking football again this evening and they really should have been out of sight by this point in the game.

However the visitors raced up field and got an immediate reply, Callum Ball taking advantage of some slack defending although TV pictures would suggest he was in an offside position. The Dons had a multitude of chances after that but were denied all three points four minutes from time when Reynolds handled a cross and referee Crawford Allan awarded a penalty which McLean scored with a well taken spot kick. Two bizarre goals to give away. In the final minute Taylor had a chance but headed over from close range.

A very disappointing end result for the Dons after another decent attacking performance.


Match Report

Aberdeen dropped two points this evening in a game they should have won comfortably.

Manager Derek McInnes made one change from the side that won on Saturday. Niall McGinn was passed fit and came in for Andrew Considine who dropped to the bench. So the Dons lined up this evening with Langfield in goal, Logan at right back, Taylor and Reynolds in central defence with Hayes at left back. Robson and Flood resumed their midfield partnership whilst Pawlett and McGinn were the wide men with Rooney and Goodwillie up front again.

In the early stages the Dons did look the hungrier of the two teams and there was wave upon wave of red jersey's getting forward and St Mirren were struggling to keep their shape.

On 4 minutes though St Mirren put a good move together and played it wide to Marwood who stepped inside and fired in a dangerous looking shot but Taylor blocked. The Dons then made a good break as Pawlett raced forward. The ball was played wide to Jonny Hayes who also stepped inside and his shot was only parried by keeper Marian Kello and then Goodwillie, going for the rebound was flagged offside.

On 5 minutes Goodwillie was taken down by Marc McAusland who had got caught the wrong side of the Dons striker. It could be argued that Marc was the last man although the incident happened a good 40 yards from goal so it was difficult to say it was a clear goal scoring opportunity. Crawford Allan produced a yellow card and not a red.

On 10 minutes great play by Willo Flood who toed the ball away from a Saints defender and then found himself in acres of space on the edge of the area. Willo tried to curl the ball into the far corner of the net and he was not far away. His reaction afterwards suggested that he felt he should have done better.

The Saints will have been happy to have got through the first 15 minutes without conceding after a bit of a Dons onslaught. They then very nearly scored themselves. Ash Taylor was short with his back pass and Gregg Wylde nip in the get the ball but Langfield had read the situation and in the end made a good block with his legs. Then a few minutes after that they worked the ball well to Kenny McLean who hit a great shot from 30 yards which clipped the bar. It really was a very good hit.

On 25 minutes the best move of the game so far. A neat back heel from Goodwillie, similar to the one last week against Livingston when Rooney scored, set up an opening for McGinn. Niall's effort had lots of power and Kello was forced to make a very decent save as he tipped the ball over.

On the half hour mark the Dons won a corner after a low dangerous Rooney cross was turned behind. Robson, who scored from a corner in the corresponding fixture last season, swung a great ball in from the same side and Rooney had a chance from about 6 yards out but he headed wide.

Robson was becoming more influential in the game and was spraying some lovely long passes. He played a superb ball to Hayes but Jonny's cross was cut out.

On 38 minutes Hayes played a nice ball forward which found Reynolds who had stayed forward. Mark, named in the Scotland squad today, did really well to create space for himself before delivered a lovely cross which Rooney knocked down for Goodwillie but Kello stood big and made a very good save to block from close range.

In the final five minutes before the end of the half Aberdeen stepped it up a gear and all of a sudden the game opened up.

Goodwin was forced to make a great tackle on Logan then Goodwillie on the left could not find Rooney. Then from the right Rooney found McGinn but Niall could not make contact when he looked certain to score. Superb attacking play from the Dons but they just could not find the net. Then another lovely deft touch from Goodwillie created an opening for Pawlett but his effort was blocked and went behind for a corner. The ball came over and there was a 'stramash' in the box, the ball then came back to Reynolds and he fired a shot high into the net past an unsighted Kello who had a lot of bodies in front of him. A great finish that any of the Dons striker's would have been happy with.

HT
St Mirren started the second half strongly and won a couple of corners. Back came the Dons though and Niall McGinn had a left footed shot from the edge of the box which just went over the bar after another lovely move. On 53 minutes Jim Goodwin was shown the yellow card for sending Jonny Hayes spinning into the air. From the resulting free kick Barry Robson had a left footed effort from about 25 yards out but it went just a bit too high.

Three minutes later the Dons did grab a deserved second. Jonny Hayes crossed from the left was flicked back by Rooney and it fell perfectly for Peter Pawlett who sent his right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner. It was a well-placed shot from Peter.

Within minutes of the Dons going two up, the visitors pull one back, taking advantage of poor defending. Out of nothing Ash Taylor was caught in possession whist trying to move up the park. Gregg Wylde then delivered a very good cross for Callum Ball who found himself completely unmarked as the Dons defence hesitated and tapped home a right footed shot from the right side of the six yard box. One of the reasons he was in so much space was because he was offside.

The Dons should have been out of sight, instead it was game on.

With twenty minutes to Andrew Considine replaced Niall McGinn.

The Dons had regained their composure at this point and were looking a threat again. Logan had a chance but blasted over, Hayes wasted a promising move when his cross sailed over, and then Rooney's powerful shot was spilled by Keillo but no Aberdeen players were following up.

With just under 15 minutes to go Peter Pawlett, who had taken a knock, was replaced by Cammy Smith. The Dons then missed another good chance when Flood cut in off the left. He had so much time in the box to look up and he decided to pick out Goodwillie. He was quickly closed down though and his shot deflected over. Adam Rooney then had a miss and Cammy Smith a header saved. You really started to worry that the Dons were going to pay for all these misses - and they did.

A ball was thrown into the Aberdeen penalty area and when there seemed little danger Mark Reynolds outstretched arm hit the ball. It appeared he might have been shoved in the back although he or none of his team mates complained about the award. Kenny McLean converted the penalty with a very well struck left footed shot which went in Jamie's bottom left corner.

Incredibly the Saints were level. The Dons did have a final chance to win the game in injury time when Taylor was able to get a header in from a corner but the ball went agonisingly over.

Quiet how Aberdeen did not win this game is a mystery.