SCOTTISH CUP THIRD ROUND
By Brian Donovan

Aberdeen 3 (1) Dunfermline Athletic 6 (2)

Pundits forecasting the outcome of the cup game were plumping for an Aberdeen win. The last time the two teams met at the end of December, Aberdeen won convincingly 6-2 at East End Park. However, in recent games at Pittodrie, the Pars had given a good account of themselves despite eventually going down. The Press identified Aberdeen's Brownlee and Mulhall as the players that most needed watching. However, the overall feeling of the local paper was that the Pars could do worse than secure a draw, and play again the following Wednesday with home advantage.

One welcome passenger on the team bus heading north was centre-half Jimmy Stevenson, recovering from a broken leg sustained against Hibernian some 10 weeks earlier.

Manager Stein, fielded the same eleven players that played against Stranraer.

Match Report v Aberdeen

Things didn't start well and within a minute the Pars found themselves a goal down when Ewan crossed and Mitchell turned the ball towards goal. It looked an easy take for Jim Herriot, but the ball slipped from his grasp, allowing Brownlee to head home. Twice after that, Herriot endangered his goal with faulty handling, but in both cases the danger was cleared. This was Aberdeen's best spell and it took the Athletic forwards some time to find their feet.

The equaliser came in 21 minutes, when Cammy Fraser sliced a clearance to Dickson on the right wing, and his cross was headed home by Alex Smith. Little had a chance to put Aberdeen back into the lead, but Herriot touched the ball onto a post and Williamson cleared off the goal line. Smith had a fierce drive that narrowly missed, before in 32 minutes Ogston dropped Smith's cross and there was Charlie Dickson to hammer the ball into the back of the net.

Herriot then had a fine double save from Ewan and Brownlee, and as an indication of how wet the pitch was, Coutts slid some 10 yards on his back after clearing the ball.

Three minutes into the second half, some Dickson juggling on the right made space for Tommy McDonald, who raced in to shoot home. Despite the referee looking at the linesman, the goal stood.

The Dons were by now being continually forced to defend, but against the run of play in 59 minutes Brownlee scored after backheeling home a corner. However, the Aberdeen fightback lasted only two minutes, as a McDonald centre was touched on by Dickson to Melrose, whose shot was deflected into the net.

With 13 minutes remaining Aberdeen centre-half Coutts was injured and was moved to centre-forward for the rest of the game. The weakened Aberdeen defence conceded a fifth goal in 82 minutes, when a mazy McDonald run gave George Peebles his chance to shoot home, off the far post.

Herriot dropped a Ewan cross 2 minutes from time, and Coutts was on hand to touch the ball into the back of the net. However, the Pars had the final word, and right on full time, George Miller headed home to finish the game on a high note.

Teams:

Aberdeen: Ogston, Bennett, Sim, Burns, Coutts, Fraser, Ewen, Cooke, Little, Brownlee, Mulhall.