Hamilton 0 - 3 Aberdeen: Youth policy pays dividends as Dons give Accies a lesson

IN THE midst of his post-match chat, Mark Kerr's phone went off. "It's the pizzas for the lads," the Aberdeen captain explained. Certainly, it was never going to be a celebratory carry-out of the alcoholic variety. Not when Fraser Fyvie, attention-grabbing debutant who helped earn a first win for Mark McGhee in his northern posting, is hardly old enough for razors, never mind Red Stripes.

Kerr acknowledged that the "outstanding" performance of midfielder Fyvie, the youngest ever Aberdeen player at 16 years and five months, would inevitably overshadow the assured first senior outing of fellow Pittodrie youth product Jonathan Crawford. But he did his best to bracket their promise together; even when the 18-year-old right-back Crawford succumbed to cramp as the physically developed Scotland under-17 just "got stronger" as the game went on.

The pair undoubtedly brought a freshness to Aberdeen, a team in desperate need of any sort of boost following their flayings by Sigma Olomouc and Celtic. McGhee was honest enough to acknowledge that just as helpful to his team's cause was Hamilton players such as James McArthur, Mark McLaughlin and Alex Neil missing out.

The home team resembled a raggle-taggle of trialists hastily assembled for a bounce game. "I saw Csaba Lazlo's comments in the papers about having leaders on the field," Accies manager Billy Reid said. "I am without my captain, vice-captain and my big stalwart and that showed."

But that should not take away from the promise in particular shown by Fyvie, an industrious redhead McGhee quipped he didn't want to compare to Paul Scholes and who "was more like Ron Weasley… a bit of magic".

Kerr maintained that the pair are among a number of young players, Michael Paton another, who are "the right type, have good attitudes" and could come in and enhance the Aberdeen side. The latest debutants "gave the senior players a lift" at New Douglas Park, Kerr admitted.

Little wonder. They know that with McGhee having about one-and-a-half brass farthings to spend between now and the end of the month on one further new signing, developing talent from within might be the only means of making a go of it this season.

Yet, even if the hapless nature of the home side was undeniable, so too was the quality of two of the three strikes that undid them. "They say there's no quality in Scotland but (Charlie Mulgrew] put a free-kick in the top corner, and (Chris] Maguire's hit a volley from 25 yards," said Kerr. Inbetween Mulgrew's masterly delivery midway through the first period, and Maguire's stonking strike in the 64th minute, Andrew Considine capitalised on rank bad defending to put the outcome beyond doubt after only half an hour.

But despite two heavy SPL losses, and the sale of prized assets, Reid rejects the notion that this could be a season too far for Hamilton in the top flight.

"We were a team here last year and we will be a team this year," he said bullishly. "It's just going to take a bit of time to gel. I don't have any doubts about that.

"(Our new signing] Leon Knight is still getting his fitness but looked a real handful (in the second half against Aberdeen]. He will score goals at this level. There is no panic. When we get all our guys on the park, you'll see a different Accies. That is a guarantee."