Paul Wright's first half goal against one of his former clubs opened up a
nine-point gap between the two sides.
With the league's two worst defences on display you might have expected a
handful of goals but chances were few and far between.
For all that, it was an exciting 90 minutes, particularly for the home side
whose crowd was boosted by around 1,000 youngsters who had been allowed into the
match for free.
After a busy opening spell by the Dons it was the home side who went on to
dominate for most of the match.
Despite the fact that the Aberdeen defence was bolstered by new signing Derek
Whyte, they had a torrid afternoon against a fast flowing Killie attack.
The Northerners found Frenchman Jerome Vareille a bit of a handful with his
powerful running and strong physical presence causing all sorts of problems.
Some erratic flagging by the stand side linesman added to Kilmarnock's
frustration as they tried to get a grip on the game.
But once they did they never really looked like losing with visiting frontmen
Mike Newell and Billy Dodds always looking overshadowed by a competent Killie
defence.
Top scorer Paul Wright produced the first real shot on goal in 11 minutes and
it took a good fingertip save from Jim Leighton to deny him.
But there was nothing the Scotland goalkeeper could do in 27 minutes to
prevent Wright netting his eighth goal of the season.
Good leading up play by Gus MacPherson and Vareille left Wright in the clear
and his neat flick beat Leighton low down.
Aberdeen, lacking in craft and imagination, found it difficult to stamp their
authority in midfield and with Pat Nevin and Alex Burke on the flanks, Killie
held all the aces.
For a brief spell after the interval the Pittodrie side stepped up the pace
but Kilmarnock rode the storm and were soon back in charge.
They could well have added to their solitary lead to avoid an anxious end to
the match but twice Derek Whyte got in the way to block efforts from Wright and
Vareille.
In a hectic closing 10-minute spell both sides might have scored.
Ali Mitchell clipped the top of the crossbar with a cracking drive from 35
yards then Dragoje Lekovic pulled off the save of the match with an incredible
reflex stop from a Billy Dodds' volley.
Teams:
Kilmarnock: Lekovic, MacPherson, Kerr, Lauchlan, Montgomerie,
Reilly, Nevin (Henry 71), Mitchell, Wright,
Vareille (Roberts 75), Burke.
Subs Not Used: Baker.
Goals: Wright 27.
Aberdeen: Leighton, Anderson (Miller 87), Whyte, O'Neil, Inglis,
Smith, Bernard, Jess, Newell (Gillies 58), Dodds, Kiriakov.
Subs Not Used: Kombouare.
Booked: Anderson, Smith.
Att: 8,452
Ref: J Herald (Newton Mearns).
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