Saturday, 4 August, 2001, 17:58 GMT 18:58 UK

 

Hearts edge out Aberdeen

 

Hearts 1-0 Aberdeen

 

A 20th minute strike from Hearts captain Colin Cameron was enough to earn the points for the Tynecastle side.

 

Aberdeen ran them close and can consider themselves a little unfortunate not to have earned a draw.

 

Aberdeen put the Hearts defence under pressure early on and won a free-kick outside the box when Scott Severin went in late on Derek Young.

 

The resulting kick found its way to Ben Thornley but his effort was blocked by the Hearts defence.

 

Hearts skipper Colin Cameron had a long range effort after 10 minutes following good work from Fulton and Mahe but the midfielder failed to find the target.

 

Cameron's luck was in 10 minutes later, however, when he thundered Hearts into the lead from just inside the box after a McKenna knock down.

 

Hearts were buoyed by Cameron's strike and began to knock the ball around purposefully.

 

However Aberdeen still posed a threat and after 26 minutes Tomaschek was forced to head over his own bar after another good delivery from Thornley.

 

A mistake by Severin then gave Derek Young a chance to shoot but Antti Niemi saved well.

 

Eight minutes before the break Steve Fulton engineered an opening for himself with a tremendous run at the Dons defence but his shot hit the side netting.

 

On the stroke of half-time, Gary Wales squandered a glorious chance to extend Hearts' lead, volleying over the top from close range after a knockdown from McKenna.

 

Hearts slowed the game down in the second half but Aberdeen attempted to keep up the pressure in their search for an equaliser.

 

Bisconti found Darren Young on the edge of the box and although the young forward turned well, his shot from 18 yard was easily taken by Niemi.

 

There was a scare for the Dons in the 67th minute when goalkeeper David Preece conceded a corner after failing to clutch an in-swinging cross from Hearts' substitute McSwegan.

 

Cameron almost snatched a spectacular second for Hearts seven minutes from time.

 

He reacted quickly to a punched clearance from Dons goalkeeper David Preece and attempted a speculative bicycle kick which flew just over the bar.

 

Three minutes later the Hearts captain had a more conventional opportunity to secure their win, but skewed the ball badly wide after eluding the Dons defence.

 

Aberdeen put a lot of effort into the game but ultimately were unable to breach the Hearts defence.

 

Hearts: Niemi, Severin, Mahe, Webster, Boyack, Tomaschek, Cameron, McKenna, Fulton, Wales, Adam.

 

Subs:

 

Aberdeen: Preece, Guntveit, McGuire, Whyte, McNaughton, Darren Young, Mackie, Bisconti, McAllister, Derek Young, Thornley.

 

Subs: Esson, Rutkiewicz, Solberg, Tiernan, Bett.

 

Referee: Bobby Orr

How about this one?

 

Aberdeen 2 Hearts 5

 

 

Paul Hegarty walked away from his last game as Aberdeen boss a disappointed man after his team were torn apart by Hearts.

 

Gary McSwegan scored a superb hat-trick to complete the misery for Hegarty.

 

The leaky Dons defence finished the season having let in a massive 71 goals and whoever gets the manager's job at Pittodrie he will have to make sure his first priority is to buy some quality defenders.

 

Dons keeper Tony Warner, whose loan spell from Liverpool officially ended after today's defeat, has conceded 17 goals in just six games.

 

Hegarty had hoped that his troops would give him a win for his final game in charge and after an encouraging first half performance this looked on the cards but Hearts, whose manager Jim Jefferies is one of the names in the frame for the vacant Pittodrie post, wiped Aberdeen away with four goals in a 19-minute spell in the second half.

 

Hearts got off to a flyer when McSwegan opened the scoring, firing a low right-foot shot past Warner with only two minutes gone.

 

Aberdeen clawed themselves back into the match with an equaliser five minutes later when Jamie Buchan smashed a 25-yarder past Roddy McKenzie in the Hearts goal.

 

Although that was the end of the scoring for the first half, Aberdeen had the lion's share of possession and had more chances with Andreas Mayer coming close on three occasions.

 

By half-time it looked as if Aberdeen would come out in the second half to finish the visitors off but a double by McSwegan and a Colin Cameron penalty within the opening seven minutes of the half put paid to any hopes of Hegarty getting his final day wish.

 

Dons striker Eoin Jess pulled a goal back in 61 minutes but this was never going to be enough and Hearts completed the scoring through Thomas Flogal in 64 minutes.

 

The Aberdeen board will now have a close look at who to bring in as Hegarty's replacement and with an announcement due shortly, the long-suffering Dons fans will hope that this time the club will bring in the right man.

 

Teams

 

Aberdeen: Warner, Perry, Whyte, Smith, Jess, Mayer (Young 78), Dow (Wyness 78), Anderson, Buchan, Hart, Winters.

 

Subs Not Used: Leighton, Pepper, Hamilton.

 

Goals: Buchan 7, Jess 61.

 

Hearts: McKenzie, Naysmith, Ritchie, Adam (Jenkinson 84), Cameron, Jackson (Makel 78), Flogel, Pressley, Murray, Severin, McSwegan (Juanjo 78).

 

Subs Not Used: McPherson, Strang.

 

Booked: Cameron.

 

Goals: McSwegan 2, 47, 49, Cameron 52 pen, Flogel 64.

 

Att: 13,042

 

Ref: J Rowbotham (Kirkcaldy).

 

 

Let's play Guess the Formation too - as far as I can make out we have six defenders in the starting XI. 

How about this one?

 

 

Let's play Guess the Formation too - as far as I can make out we have six defenders in the starting XI. 

 

Hart and Buchan played midfield then.

I know Buchan did - he was a midfielder - but Dow must've been playing in midfield then too, and he was a left back.

 

Warner

 

Anderson Perry Whyte Smith

 

Hart Mayer Buchan Dow

 

Jess Winters

 

 

That's fuckin terrifying.

 

I like the way that only 14 minutes after Farts scored their 5th, Hegarty went all-out attack by putting Wyness on for Dow and Darren Young on for Mayer.No further goals were scored.