Aberdeen booked a Scottish Cup fourth-round date with Dundee after sweeping
aside Queen of the South at Pittodrie.
A double from Laurent D'Jaffo and goals from Derek Young and Russell Anderson
were enough to see off John Connolly's men, but the match was overshadowed in
the 49th minute when the Doonhamers' Sean O'Connor was stretchered off with knee
ligament damage.
Aberdeen knew the game was won by half-time and the second half was played at
a pedestrian pace.
The Dons laid siege to the Doonhamers' goal from the outset and given their
domination it was a surprise that it took them 15 minutes to make the
breakthrough.
Stephen Payne crossed from the right for D'Jaffo, who attempted to glance a
header past Colin Scott, but his effort was turned round the post by a
defender.
From the corner kick, Paul Sheerin whipped the ball in to a packed penalty
area, causing an almighty scramble in the penalty area before the ball broke to
Young, who swept it high into the net with a powerful right boot.
Queen of the South kept battling and may have got back into the game four
minutes later when O'Connor combined with John O'Neill to send the midfielder
through on goal.
O'Neill steadied himself 16 yards out and unleashed a powerful drive at David
Preece's goal but unfortunately for the Division One men the goalkeeper was able
to dive and block the ball.
Aberdeen doubled their lead after 21 minutes when Steve Tosh picked out Payne
on the right flank and the youngster sent in another cross for D'Jaffo, who
dived in at the back post to score.
The Dons went further ahead three minutes later when Clark's corner caused
panic in the visitors' defence and that allowed Anderson to climb high above
everyone and knock the ball past the helpless Scott.
Play was held up for six minutes at the start of the second half when O'Connor
fell awkwardly under a tackle from Eric Deloumeaux.
The striker, who has only recently recovered from a leg injury, appeared to
land heavily on his right leg and writhed in agony on the ground.
Both club doctors immediately ran onto the field of play to offer assistance
to the paramedics as the player lay on the floor.
After a lengthy delay he was replaced by Derek Lyle.
The injury to O'Connor seemed to affect both sides badly as the tempo of the
match dropped considerably.
Aberdeen, somewhat understandably, spent much of the second half looking like
a team satisfied with their night's work and had one eye on Saturday's
fourth-round meeting with Dundee at Dens Park.
However, their desire to play the game at walking pace backfired in the final
minute when Anderson tripped second half substitute Peter Weatherson inside the
box.
The tall striker picked himself up to take the kick and blasted the ball
straight down the middle of the goal to give the visiting fans some
consolation.
Their joy was short-lived though as the Dons broke up the park and added a
fourth as D'Jaffo stretched out at the back post - as he did in the first half -
to knock home a Clark cross.
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