Here was the tonic Aberdeen would have been looking for after being knocked out of the Europa League by Apollon Limassol last week. Victory over Hamilton Academical, who were rigorous and made the hosts work for the points, was exactly what Derek McInnes wanted on the opening weekend of a new league season that promises to define the club off the field, too.
In the past three years Aberdeen have finished runners-up in the Ladbrokes Premiership, and once again McInnes’s side set out to prove that they are the second force in Scottish football behind Celtic, while the decision over whether a new training ground and stadium are to be built on the outskirts will be made by the city council in October.
The match was feisty. Hamilton, led by Dougie Imrie, their captain, were robust in their tackling. Graeme Shinnie, however, was the one who picked up the first of six bookings in the match. He was late when challenging Imrie in the 13th minute, the flashpoint bringing the encounter to life.
Darian MacKinnon was late on Ryan Christie and Ioannis Skondras was fortunate not to be punished when he bundled over Scott Wright in the penalty box but it was to be Georgios Sarris who was the first visiting player in the book when he drove in on Wright. Scott McMann was also shown a yellow card for his over zealous challenge on Nicky Maynard.
But in amongst all the folly, which had upped the pace of play, there was some football being played. Kenny McLean, who gave another largely subdued performance after being unimpressive in the European tie in Cyprus, put the ball over the Merkland stand from 12 yards out after Christie had meandered into the visitors’ box. Steven Boyd had a similar chance for Hamilton from Greg Docherty’s delivery, but he too blazed it over.
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Anthony O’Connor opened the scoring after 26 minutes. Skondras brought down Christie after the Celtic loanee made him look foolish with a clever piece of skill. Greg Tansey duly dinked in a delivery which O’Connor did well to stoop to get enough power on his header which flicked past Gary Woods. It was the 8,000th competitive goal in the club’s history.
Christie chipped the ball over the bar and Wright was denied by Woods as the home side went in search of a second. The former was to pass up their best chance. Wright, with a backheel which earned a round applause from the crowd, skipped past Skondras and Sarris before laying the ball off to Maynard. His strike was punched directly to Christie’s feet but the midfielder, not expecting to receive such an opportunity, sent the ball over the bar.
Hamilton were toiling. Xavier Tomas picked up two yellow cards — both for fouls on Christie — within nine minutes and all of a sudden they were down to ten men with just over an hour played. Skondras was being given the run-around by Wright and the pair fell over each other into the dugout. A minute after his team-mate’s dismissal, the right back was the latest player to enter the referee’s book when he chopped down the light-footed winger.
Shay Logan then had a volley saved, Shinnie passed wide of an empty net and Maynard was denied by a sliding Massimo Donati as Aberdeen looked to double their advantage. Miles Storey, signed last summer from Inverness Caledonian Thistle and who has held talks with Tommy Wright regarding a loan move to St Johnstone, provided the decisive finish. There was an impressive nonchalance about the substitute’s strike which curled beyond Woods from 18 yards into the bottom corner, doubling the striker’s tally for the club.
Ratings
Aberdeen (4-2-3-1): J Lewis 6 — S Logan 6, K Arnason 5 (sub: M Reynolds, 60 3), A O’Connor 7, A Considine 6 — G Tansey 6, G Shinnie 6 — R Christie 7 (sub: G Stewart, 80), K McLean 6, S Wright 7 — N Maynard 6 (sub: M Storey, 86). Substitutes not used D Rogers, G Mackay-Steven, D Harvie, F Ross. Booked Shinnie.
Hamilton Academical (4-3-1-2): G Woods 5 — I Skondras 5 (sub: M Donati, 66 3), G Sarris 5, X Tomas 5, S McMann 6 — G Docherty 6, D MacKinnon 6, D Imrie 5 — A Crawford 6 — R Bingham 5 (sub: L Longridge, 71), S Boyd 5 (sub: D Templeton, 60 2). Substitutes not used R Fulton, G Gillespie, D Redmond, D Lyon. Booked Sarris, McMann, Tomas, Skondras. Sent off Tomas.
Referee E Anderson. Attendance 15,165.