Recap
WTF was that!
A lacklustre Dons lost out to a battling St Mirren in our second Premiership outing of the season in a dreich Paisley.
Derek McInnes made four changes from the team that lost out in Croatia on Thursday.
Shay Logan was benched (much to the delight of the Twitter-ati!) and new boy, Zak Vyner came in, in his place.
Scott Wright, Connor McLennan and Curtis Main all made a start, replacing Jon Gallagher and Niall McGinn who were both on the bench and Sam Cosgrove who had a niggling hamstring tightness that kept him out of the game.
St Mirren came out of the blocks all guns blazing and it wasn’t long before they went into the lead.
Greg Leigh was caught out of position after a poor clearing header, McGinn set Kyle Magennis down the right and he squared the ball to Ilkay Durmus who fired the ball into the bottom of our net.
St Mirren went to close getting a second four minutes later after Durmus put a header over from a Calum Waters cross.
The Dons first real chance game on the 21st minute, after Curtis Main blazed a shot over from outside the area and then on the 32nd minute Hedges fired his shot straight into Vaclav Hladky then Lewis Ferguson shot miles wide with a free-kick from 30 yards.
It just wasn’t happening for the Dons.
Just before half-time Tony Andreu and Durmus went close again for St Mirren, after a free kick and overhead kick were both saved by Lewis.
Into the second half, and it is the Dons that took the front foot, first Ferguson went close with a headed shot that Hladky tipped over the bar. Shortly after the St Mirren keeper deflected a McLennan strike, and cheekily Main thought he would take an opportunity and stole the ball and role it into the net – ref Steven McLean didn’t allow the equaliser.
It looked as if we had a dead cert penalty after Hedges smashed the ball off the hand of Ryan Flynn in the St Mirren box, but Steven McLean waved play on despite protests from the Aberdeen players of which subsequently Vyners received a yellow.
Niall McGinn and Jon Gallagher came on for Connor McLennan and Scott Wright for the latter stages of the game but the game opened up for St Mirren to start taking the chances.
A cross from Paul McGinn nearly put the home side further ahead after it connected with Andreu’s shoulder and nearly went in at the far post.
Niall McGinn came so close with an equaliser minutes from the end of the game, after a cross from Andy Considine found McGinn at the back post, he swung at it and the ball hit off the post.
Aberdeen manager, Derek McInnes commented: “When you try and freshen the team up sometimes after an away European game, you’re hoping you can get that freshness and impetus from the ones who come in.
“One or two maybe a looked a bit sluggish, like they needed the game, which goes against what you’re trying to do. But you’re trying to keep a squad happy and give everybody the opportunity, and I think one or two never quite took their opportunity. Second-half, we were relentless with our work, but it wasn’t to be.”
