Well, that was a wasted trip South. A three-goal advantage was given to the home side before ten minutes were gone, and while Scott Vernon's reply in the 26th minute looked to briefly buoy the Dons, that momentum dissipated quickly and the visitors were send home quietly.
It could have been a rather different match had Pernis not been able to parry Chris Maguire's attempt in the opening minute, but two minutes later Jon Daly slotted home a gift rebound off David Goodwillie's effort, followed by a woeful own-goal punch by Mark Howard three minutes later. Unfortunately it was only after Craig Conway was taken down in the box by Hartley (with Goodwillie subsequently converting) that the Dons were able to settle themselves.
In addition to bending a shot into the upper right-hand corner of Pernis' goal, Vernon had several moments of decisive attack, but the first half was one of frustration for Aberdeen. McGhee expressed his displeasure with referee Mike Tumilty on several occasions, and things came to a head just a few minutes before the break when McGhee was sent to the stands for kicking the ball away after a non-called foul against Hartley.
We all knew the season would involve dropped points at some point, but the frustrating thing about this afternoon's match was that it seemed so random to end up down so quickly. One promising element was the way that, on the whole, the Dons kept battling... but results are needed, not just strong efforts in losing causes.
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