Scottish Cup: Motherwell 1-2 Aberdeen: Dons into semis with narrow win

STATISTICALLY, this was a match where something had to give. At the end of an absorbing and often tumultuous Scottish Cup quarter-final, Aberdeen’s numbers came up trumps.

Craig Brown’s side have still to taste defeat in 2012, their unbeaten sequence extended to 13 matches by a victory which has intensified hope of lifting the famous old trophy for the first time since 1990.

It was a bitterly disappointing afternoon for Motherwell whose run of five consecutive victories at Fir Park was ended by Rory Fallon’s double for the Dons. Referee Craig Thomson bore the brunt of the home team’s frustration and he sent their manager Stuart McCall to the stand at half-time after he questioned the ludicrous award of the corner which led to Fallon’s early opener.

The dismissal of Motherwell captain Keith Lasley was certainly less contentious, the midfielder collecting his third red card of the season for a dreadful foul on Fraser Fyvie. Already 2-0 down by that stage, the ten men showed tremendous spirit to pull a goal back through Nicky Law, but resilient Aberdeen held out to book their semi-final slot.

Fallon’s impact was precipitated by the barely comprehensible decision of Thomson and his assistant, Alasdair Ross, their award of the fateful fourth-minute corner causing rightful indignation of the home side. Even the Aberdeen players were trotting back in anticipation of a goal kick, Scott Vernon having got the final touch on the ball before it went out of play, when the officials indicated a corner.

“I fully expected an experienced ref like Craig, when he saw the reaction of the Aberdeen players, to make it right when the corner came over and blow for a foul in our favour,” said McCall. “You see that happen every week in games everywhere.

“At half-time, I told the linesman that he would be embarrassed when he saw it again on TV. Craig said I swore at him and called him embarrassing. On my kid’s life, I never swore and I only said the decision was embarrassing. I’m hugely disappointed he stopped me from doing my job in the second-half. I’ll defend myself against the SFA charge at Hampden and I’ve told Craig I hope to see him at Hampden for the hearing.”

As unjust as it was for McCall’s men, they had only themselves to blame for their weak defending when Fyvie floated in the set-piece from the right. Aberdeen captain Andrew Considine was able to rise freely at the back post to nod the ball back across goal, where Fallon was equally unobstructed as he planted a firm header beyond Darren Randolph from close range.

The early breakthrough provided Aberdeen with a level of momentum which should have seen them double their advantage just three minutes later, Vernon heading wide from around eight yards after being set up smartly by Fallon. Randolph then had to dive to his right to keep out a stinging long range shot by Rory McArdle as the visitors sought to capitalise on their purple patch.

Motherwell, perhaps allowing their early sense of grievance to cloud their focus, initially struggled to respond. But with the lively Henrik Ojamaa gradually seeing more of the ball, they managed to place some pressure of their own on the visitors’ defence which reaped the reward of their 28th-minute penalty kick.

There was little doubt that Thomson called it correctly on this occasion, young Dons defender Clark Robertson pulling Michael Hidgon to the ground as they tussled for a cross. The big Motherwell striker took the penalty himself but his firmly struck effort was brilliantly kept out by Jason Brown.

“I give great credit to our goalkeeper coach Jim Leighton for that,” said Aberdeen manager Brown. “He has a record of every opponent’s penalty kicks and runs through them with Jason before every game we play.”

Both sides were forced into a change before half-time, Motherwell defender Shaun Hutchinson and Aberdeen midfielder Ryan Jack eventually succumbing to the effects of a sickening head clash. Jonathan Page, drafted on to the home bench shortly before kick-off when club captain Stephen Craigan was injured in the warm-up, replaced Hutchinson, while Chris Clark took over from Jack.

The Aberdeen man’s first notable contribution helped his side make it 2-0 in the 41st minute. His cross from the right found Fallon in space in the penalty area and the big Kiwi smashed a magnificent first-time volley high beyond the helpless Randolph from around 14 yards.

The Motherwell ’keeper kept his side in contention four minutes into the second half with an outstanding save, displaying electric reactions to keep out Mitch Megginson’s close-range shot as Aberdeen looked to kill off any prospect of a recovery by their hosts.

That appeared all the more remote when they were reduced to ten men in the 69th minute, Lasley shown a straight red card by Thomson for a dreadfully late and dangerous challenge on Fyvie which saw the Aberdeen teenager carried off on a stretcher.

Motherwell proved to be at their most vibrant and dangerous when short-handed, pinning Aberdeen back for much of the closing 20 minutes. The introduction of Chris Humphrey for the unusually ineffective Jamie Murphy added zest to Motherwell’s work and the winger provided the low cross which led to his side pulling a goal back in the 79th minute. Aberdeen ‘keeper Brown, whose handling had been faultless up to that point, let Humphrey’s delivery squirm through his grasp, allowing Nicky Law to sscore from close range.

In the fourth minute of added time, Brown prevented Motherwell forcing a replay when he dived to left to keep out Tim Clancy’s sweetly-struck shot from the edge of the penalty area.