Locke Crocked, Killie Barreled!

       
   Serious Injury for Locke?                    MacDonald In the Ref's Book.

Kilmarnock 0 - 1 Aberdeen
(SPL Under 21 Match - Rugby Park, 10th March 2002, 7.00pm Kick Off)

The Dons made the long trail south on a bitterly cold evening and snatched the three points thanks to Leon Mike's well taken goal in 71 minutes. Both teams started brightly with Tiernan firing wide for the Dons and Murray causing the Dons defence a few anxious moments.

Gary Locke's frustrating season continued when he was carried off after only five minutes with a nasty looking ankle injury. It looks like another spell on the sidelines for the midfielder who will be glad to see this season over.

Hinds was looking sharp for the visitors and he looked set to open the scoring in 18 minutes. He controlled the ball neatly and waltzed past Stewart but with the goal gaping his shot was superbly blocked by Coyle's sliding challenge.

Di Giacomo threatened for Killie five minutes later but his penetrating run ended with Payne scrambling the ball away for a corner. The game lapsed into a midfield battle with both teams lacking a cutting edge. MacDonald and Di Giacomo tried their luck from distance before the Dons had the best chance of the half just before the break. A corner from the right landed at Mike's feet but his 12 yard shot was superbly turned away by Stewart.

Killie came close to breaking the deadlock nine minutes into the second half. A fine run by Murray ended with a cut back to MacDonald whose low shot rebounded off the base of the post. It was fairly drab stuff afterwards and neither goalie was called into serious action.

With 19 minutes left Aberdeen scored the game's only goal. A quick break saw the ball being played wide to Mike 25 yards out on the left flank. The hard working striker cut inside and from 20 yards curled a beauty into the far corner.

Killie tried hard to strike back but the nearest they came was when Boyd drove into the box, side stepped a defender but his net bound shot was deflected a few yards wide.

A disappointing night for Killie with Coyle and MacDonald being the best of the home players. Hinds and Mike were best for the visitors who lost Morrison to injury late in the game. There were a few niggling challenges late on with McDonald for Killie and Hinds for Aberdeen going in the ref's notebook.

Kilmarnock: Stewart, Gilroy (McGlinchey 70), Dillon, Coyle, McGregor, Locke (McGuinness 5), n MacDonald, Canning, Boyd (Jaconelli 77), Di Giacomo, Murray.
Subs (not used): Samson, Gold.

Aberdeen: Hutton, Payne, Fabiano, Jones, Hadderman, Rutkiewicz (Souter 70), Michie (Foster 58) Tiernan, Mike, n Hinds, O'Donoghue (Morrison 46).
Subs (not used): Kelly, Buckley.

Attendance: 206

Match report courtesy of The Killie Hippo