Sam Cosgrove The Saviour In Dull Dons Affair

Sam Cosgrove was the saviour in this dull encounter against Hamilton at a cold Pittodrie on Saturday.

Derek McInnes made three changes to the team that lost to Hibs last weekend.

Funso Ojo returned to the starting line-up following his hamstring injury in September.  Niall McGinn also returned and marked his 300th appearance for the Dons, and Ryan Hedges also made it into the starting eleven in place of Jon Gallagher.

Greg Leigh dropped to full back, which saw Andy Considine having to take a seat on the bench.

Craig Bryson was out due to a sickness bug and Michael Devlin also wasn’t in the squad.

There wasn’t much to get excited about and it took until the 25th minute to get our first chance, with Cosgrove hitting the ball by the far post.

That was quickly followed by Ryan Hedges sending a deflected shot into Southwood’s hands.

Hamilton went close in the 35th minute when Aaron McGowan headed wide from a free kick.

Niall McGinn then shot at goal which was saved by Southwood and James Wilson couldn’t put the ball into the net from the rebound.

Just before the break, Greg Leigh went off injured and was replaced by Andrew Considine and in stoppage time, Shay Logan had a go but was prevented by Southwood.

A half-time change came in the form of Ojo going off as a precaution and Jon Gallagher coming in for him.

It didn’t take long into the half for Aberdeen to score our opener.  In the 53rd minute, Niall McGinn crossed the ball to the back post for Sam Cosgrove to pick it up and side-foot it into the net for his 19th goal of the season.

The second half petered out after that.  George Oakley had a chance in the 64th minute but hit the ball over from 22 yards out.

Ryan Hedges was replaced by Dean Campbell in the 72nd minute.

The last real chance of the match came from James Wilson, but he fired it over in the 88th minute.

It’s a win, but a much more pre-Christmas test will come in the form of Celtic in Glasgow next weekend.