Aberdeen reclaimed third place in the Bank of Scotland Premier League with a
comfortable 3-0 win over Hibernian at Pittodrie.
Dons' captain Russell Anderson scored his first goal since December 2003 to
put his team on the way to victory in the 12th minute.
A minute later, Aberdeen striker Noel Whelan hit home on his return from
injury before Darren Mackie wrapped up the win from the spot after Gary Smith
felled Richard Foster with five minutes remaining.
The three points pushed Jimmy Calderwood's team back into third place for the
first time since December and gave them a single-point advantage over Hibs.
But, after three successive defeats, confidence appears to be ebbing away from
the young Edinburgh side.
However, the visitors had enjoyed the better of the opening stages and should
have taken the lead through Ian Murray, who burst into the box and booted over
from six yards with Michael Hart casually watching on.
That spurred the home side into action and they stunned their visitors with a
deadly double in the space of 60 seconds.
Anderson, who took a painkilling injection to conquer a calf injury, rose
above everyone in the six-yard box to nod Chris Clark's corner from the left
beyond Simon Brown.
But the Easter Road goalkeeper was at fault a minute later as Whelan put his
recent thigh injury behind him in the 13th minute.
The keeper was unable to deal with Foster's shot from the edge of the box and,
although the ball came straight at him, his poor clearance lacked confidence and
bounced into the path of Mackie.
The Dons' top scorer tried to loop a header into the net, but Brown recovered
well to tip the ball onto the bar.
However, it broke kindly for Whelan, who had cleverly followed in and bundled
it over the line.
One-time Aberdeen target Garry O'Connor may have halved the deficit in the
25th minute, but Ryan Esson got down well to tip his angled shot round the
post.
The Edinburgh side's already miserable afternoon took a turn for the worse in
the 36th minute when Guillaume Beuzelin indicated that he could not continue.
The French midfielder, who has missed the last five weeks through an ankle
injury, hobbled off and was replaced by former Pittodrie player Stephen Glass.
O'Connor made space for himself with a neat one-two with Derek Riordan and
curled a shot round Esson.
But the ball bounced off the inside of the post and straight to the feet of a
home defender.
Dean Shiels and Scott Severin earned a yellow card each when referee Kevin
Toner became fed up with a running battle between the two midfielders in the
52nd minute.
Hibs then had a great chance from 18 yards, but Gary Caldwell's free-kick was
charged down by Alexander Diamond.
In the melee that ensued, Kevin McNaughton chased Shiels to the touchline and
appeared to hurt his face in the challenge.
There did not seem to be intentional contact, but the Dons players were
furious with the Hibs youngster.
McNaughton was unable to continue and was eventually replaced by Phil McGuire,
while Shiels was eventually substituted for Ivan Sproule in the 73rd minute.
Mackie confirmed the decisiveness of the victory with five minutes left,
coolly slamming home a penalty after Smith had felled Foster.
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