A Paul Sheerin penalty after only six minutes gave Aberdeen a narrow 1-0 win
over a strangely subdued Motherwell at Fir Park.
There was little doubt about the validity of the spot-kick as Well defender
David Partridge clearly hauled down Phil McGuire.
Yet the early goal failed to provide a spark for the rest of the game, which
proved a scrappy encounter.
But the visitors will go away from Lanarkshire satisfied at having pulled
themselves further away from trouble at the bottom of the Scottish Premier
League table.
Motherwell had youngster Stephen Pearson sent off deep into injury time for a
wild swing at Dons midfielder Darren Young to compound their misery.
The home side started brightly enough and almost made the breakthrough in the
first minute when stand-in captain Tony Vaughan got his head to a Stevie Hammell
corner from the left-hand side.
But the on-loan defender from Nottingham Forest stretched too much and his
effort from close range flew over the bar.
However, in the sixth minute the visitors claimed the lead when Partridge left
the referee with no choice as he prevented McGuire reaching a Chris Clark corner
which had been flicked on by Laurent D'Jaffo.
It was a clear-cut award and midfielder Sheerin stepped up to send keeper
Francois Dubourdeau the wrong way.
But after the exciting opening, the game seemed to go flat.
In the 32nd minute Well striker James McFadden won a corner from McAllister
but Hammell's ball into the box from the right eventually ended up in Dons
keeper Peter Kjaer's hands via a Shaun Fagan shot.
But still there remained a lack of spark throughout the rest of the half,
although when Dons midfielder Stevie Tosh gave a slack pass away to McFadden at
the edge of the Dons box, the Scotland player's powerful shot drew a fine save
from Kjaer.
Aberdeen had seemed almost content to sit on their early lead and at half-time
had replaced D'Jaffo with ex-Clyde striker Leigh Hinds to give them some more
mobility and sharpness up front.
But there was little evidence to suggest the Dons would do anything other than
wait for the right time to mount their counter-attacks.
McFadden was finding himself closely marked any time he received the ball and
consequently much of Motherwell's threat diminished.
On 55 minutes Motherwell had a rare effort on the Dons goal but young David
Clarkson's shot from the edge of the box went wide of Kjaer's right-hand post.
Motherwell substitute Dirk Lehmann was introduced for Keith Lasley as manager
Terry Butcher, frustrated by his team's lack of penetration, went for more
firepower up front.
The substitution seemed to inspire the home side as Lehmann's physical
presence in attack unsettled the Dons defenders and gradually the visitors were
pushed back towards their own goal.
And in the 63rd minute the Fir Park side nearly drew level after good work by
midfielder Fagan on the right-hand side of the Dons box.
The youngsters reached the by-line and cut the ball back to the waiting
Pearson and the midfielder's shot from 10 yards was goalbound until it struck
Russell Anderson on the line and rebounded to safety.
In the 74th minute McFadden, who had moved into a deeper role, had a shot from
30 yards which trundled through to the waiting Kjaer but a free-kick 10 minutes
later from the same player and distance made the Dons keeper work harder at his
right-hand post.
In the fifth minute of injury time, Well midfielder Pearson was given his
marching orders for a straight red-card offence on Young. It was an untidy end
to an untidy match.
E-mail Article 
Print-Friendly
Subscribe to RSS Feed 
Post to del.icio.us
Facebook