Aberdeen 1 - 2 Kilmarnock
(SPL Under 21 match - Pittodrie, 6th October 2003, 7.00pm Kick Off)

Aberdeen failed to make it three wins in a row against Kilmarnock at Pittodrie this evening. The U21 side failed to emulate their U19 and senior counterparts as a goal either half sunk the Dons. After falling behind to an early Naismith goal Aberdeen pushed for an equaliser, but failed to carve open the Killie defence. A Di Giacomo strike midway through the second half wrapped up the points for the visitors despite a late consolation from John Stewart.

The wind was causing problems for the players early on, but it was the visitors who best adapted to the conditions. They won the opening corner in the 4th minute, which produced a goalmouth scramble before the Dons cleared their lines. Three minutes later Naismith went close when he steered the ball wide from only four yards. He didn't make the same mistake in the 9th minute when he turned neatly and drilled the ball past Hutton to give Kilmarnock a deserved lead.

The Dons treated this opener as a wake up call and went searching for an equaliser. A promising attack in the 16th minute ended with Bird being penalised for climbing. A minute later Hinds tried his luck from 20 yards, but hit his effort went high. A similar attempt in the 19th minute produced a similar result. Jones then had a couple of chances to score. Firstly heading a Clark corner straight at the keeper in the 25th minute and three minutes later a low drive was fumbled by Samson before he recovered to claim the ball.

It wasn't all one-way traffic however and the visitors always looked dangerous going forward. In one such foray forward Hutton was forced to tip the ball over the bar after a wayward pass took an awkward bounce in front of the keeper. Despite the effort, the Dons never created a clear cut chance and went in at the interval a goal down.

Aberdeen created several openings in the opening period with both Hinds and Mackie managing shots on target. The best move came in the 58th minute when Mackie made an excellent run and set up Hinds. Unfortunately the striker pulled his shot wide of the target. At the other end Jones made an important block to deny the visitors. The defence was posted missing in the 65th minute when Di Giacomo buried a Dargo cross to double Kilmarnock's lead. Aberdeen grabbed a late consolation in the 89th minute when Stewart headed home a Mackie cross. 

Aberdeen: Hutton, McKenzie, Payne, Morrison, Tiernan, Rutkiewicz, Jones, McCulloch, Higgins, Mackie, Souter, Hinds, Bird, Clark, Foster, Stewart.

Kilmarnock: Meldrum, Canning, Dillon, McGuinness, McLaughlin, McGregor, McDonald, Nish, McSwegan, Di Giacomo, Murray, Samson, Naismith, Masterton, Dargo

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