Match date : Saturday 27th December 1997 Competition : Premier League Attendance : 13,038
'WELL DOWNED BY RESURGENT DONS
Aberdeen 3 Motherwell 0MOTHERWELL lost out at Pittodrie on Saturday as an Aberdeen side, aided and abetted by some questionable refereeing, gained a valuable victory in the battle of the basement. Referee Tait allowed a controversial second goal for the Dons to stand just moments after Motherwell almost drew level in the second half.
Early doors the possession was mainly Aberdeens, though there was little in the way of actual goalmouth incidents. The first real chance fell to the visitors from Lanarkshire, and Aberdeen's recent failings in defence almost came flooding back to haunt them. John Hendry's header into the box for Coyne. His flick to Owen Coyle was poorly cleared by Bulgarian Tzetanov only as far as the on-rushing Shaun McSkimming. A fierce first-time shot low towards the bottom left-hand corner was brilliantly palmed round the post by the in-form Leighton, and Aberdeen survived. Eion Jess, playing probably his best match since returning North from Coventry, ran 40 yards unchallenged towards the Motherwell box before unleashing a low grounder of his own; Woods, alert as ever, was on hand to divert the ball away from the corner of the net for a flag-kick.. It was a midfield tussle, but every someone broke forward and somehow John Hendry missed a virtual open goal near the interval after the ball broke across the box to the former Tottenham Hotspur forward. Leighton again saved from McSkimming as Motherwell looked the liklier of the teams to take a first-half lead, though Dodds and Windass also missed opportunities for the home side. At the interval, however, it remained goal-less.
Half-Time Aberdeen 0 Motherwell 0As so often happens, unless you take your chances in a match the other team takes heart and ends up winning with a seemingly handsome scoreline, and the second half told exactly that tale. Eliphas Shivute, Motherwell's exciting, pacey Nambian striker, twisted and turned inside the box only for their to be no takers for his cross. Aberdeen, on the other hand, despite having the fewer of the chances at this stage, took an undeserved lead on 63 minutes through their resident bad boy Dean Windass. Just returned from a five-match suspension following a triple sending-off in Aberdeen's 5-0 hammering at Tannadice, he approached the edge of the box unchallenged, then released a low 20-yarder which deceived Stevie Woods and finished just inside the far post. During the next 20 minutes it was Motherwell who did most of the pressing, with Aberdeen seemingly content to hit on the break in an attempt to protect their slender lead. It was cruel mis-fortune, and some suspect officiating that in the end was to break Motherwell's determined efforts to force a leveller. Stevie McMillan, having a terrific match, beat Jess to cut-back for Tommy Coyne. The experienced forward sent a brilliant chip over the defence only to see the seemingly net-bound effort crack off the cross bar and fall agonisingly the wrong side of Shivute. The ball eventually fell to Bernard, and his through ball was picked up by Jess. Although well off-side, he was allowed to race up the park, skillfully beat Woods with a shimmy, and slot the ball home for the second. If that was cruel on Motherwell, they conceeded a third when Martin and sub Newell clashed in the box. Martin did appear to have tugged Newell, though he did go down all too easily. A penalty it was, and another goal for Jess. Three-nil totally flattered Aberdeen, and Motherwell's recent revival unfortuantely came to a close.
FINAL SCORE Aberdeen 3 Motherwell 0