Aberdeen 0 - 1 Kilmarnock: Late sucker punch ends dons' dawn

Published on Friday 27 August 2010 19:55

With a goal that owed as much to Aberdonian blundering as it did to Jamie Hamill's predatory instincts, Kilmarnock snatched all three points in the second minute of injury time to knock Aberdeen off the top of the SPL.

• Late, late show: Jamie Hamill slides the ball home to grab an injury time winner for Kilmarnock to knock Aberdeen off the top of the table. Photograph: Craig Watson/SNS

The vast majority of the 11,287 crowd could only look on in disbelief as Craig Bryson and James Dayton manufactured a counter-attacking move that substitute Mitch Megginson looked to have covered, only for Mark Howard to rush from his goal and confuse the issue, Hammill pouncing to smack the ball home with his left foot.

Howard was disappointed but philosophical afterward: "It was a through ball and I came out to cover it. It checked and Mitch toe-poked it before me. Maybe I should have stayed. It's an experience to learn from." It was a sickener for Aberdeen, but in truth Kilmarnock always looked capable of scoring late on when they realised that Aberdeen were faltering.

If both teams had displayed throughout the game the attacking verve they showed in the final ten minutes or so, this might have been a glorious match. As it was, the barnstorming late finish only served to make the neutral spectator pine for what might have been.

The home side made one enforced change from the midweek Co-operative Insurance Cup win over Alloa Athletic, Aberdeen manager Mark McGhee replacing the badly injured Fraser Fyvie with Peter Pawlett who had played in the first two matches of the season. "Fyvie will see surgeon Gordon Mackay next week and will have surgery on his cruciate ligament," said McGhee. "He will be out for six months to a season."

Kilmarnock made three changes from the team which hammered Airdrie United 6-2 in midweek, and once again Connor Sammon was asked to lead the line up front.

Indeed, the Irishman was asked to be the lone striker as both teams lined up in fluid 4-5-1 formations, Josh Magennis fulfilling the front man role for Aberdeen.

It was Magennis who almost opened up the Kilmarnock defence after just three minutes, setting up Maguire for a poor effort and then going himself with a much better strike which Cammy Bell saved.

Magennis then provided Maguire and Pawlett with a good chance inside the box but the two clattered into each other, presumably having forgotten to shout for possession.

It was all Aberdeen at this point, Hammill's long-range effort over the bar being the only sign of Kilmarnock in attack.The visitors' defence was solid, however, and Aberdeen were curiously reluctant to throw men forward.

The result was that both midfields were asked to produce a creative spark but could not do so in a crowded environment, and only Paul Hartley threatened to inspire.

A stunning swerving free-kick from 25 yards by the Aberdeen captain was blocked away by Bell. Rory McArdle lurking in the box was first to react, but Bell recovered quickly to smother his shot.

As the match became one dimensional with long punts to the lone attackers, Magennis was soon being marked out of the game by Wright and the impressive Mohamadou Sissoko.

Apart from a magnificent piece of quality technique by Hartley in which he scooped the ball over an opponent and opened up play, Aberdeen just could not gain the penetration their possession deserved, and Kilmarnock upped their tempo in the final ten minutes of the half.

Dayton put Sammon clean through and from an angle, the striker forced Howard to slap at the ball which took enough pace off the shot to allow McArdle to get back to clear off the line.

Less than two minutes later, Sammon was poised to shoot again, but Zander Diamond got back to clear.

Magennis then squandered a glorious chance, blasting over from 20 yards, and it was no wonder the Aberdeen fans were tetchy.

Darren Mackie almost caught Bell napping early in the second half with a low swerver that the Kilmarnock goalkeeper tipped wide, but the game was now a safety first, risk averse encounter.

McGhee had seen enough just before the hour mark, and sent on Megginson and Scott Vernon for the out-of-sorts Chris Maguire and Magennis.

A Jerel Ifil error let in Sammon but Howard comfortably saved his shot, and the Kilmarnock striker was then booked for his overly aggressive challenge on McArdle which left both men with bleeding heads. Howard then foiled Silva before Hammill struck a superb shot from 20 yards with ten minutes left, only to see Howard claw the ball away from the top corner.

Sossouko's header from the resultant corner was cleared off the line by Mackie, while at the other end Diamond forced Bell to make a good save before Kilmarnock struck in injury time.

"I always thought we had a real chance in this game as long as we stayed organised and there was no individual lapses in concentration," said Kilmarnock manager Mixu Paatelainen.

There was indeed such a lapse, but sadly for Aberdeen, it was at their end and was too late to rectify.

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