Aberdeen 0 - 1 Heart of Midlothian

By securing a narrow win at Pittodrie against Aberdeen, the Heart of Midlothian made their position safe in the League, although it was only after much trying that they scored the one goal of the match. It was a game in which both sides displayed rather poor finishing, but at the outset Aberdeen were the more dangerous in their attack. Alexander in particular was lively at the start, and Gilfillan did well to clear a dangerous cross. Following that Middleton drove the ball at a great pace across the goalmouth, but the chance went abegging. The visitors, however, gradually warmed to their work, G. Miller being the first to test Blackwell. W. Wilson cleverly forced the play on the left and nearly turned a corner to account. All the forwards joined in the attack, but although their work was clever, it lacked thrust, and just before the interval a great chance was missed, Stringfellow sending the ball over the bar from a few yards out after accepting a fast cross from Wilson. A few minutes after the interval he made the same blunder. From that point the visiting forwards put in a lot of good work without result. The Aberdeen front line did not link well together, and their sharp raids were quickly broken up by the visiting defence. Both sets of forwards had innumerable chances, before Stringfellow slipped the ball into the net after clever play by Meikle. On the run of the game it was well deserved, and the visitors were warmly cheered at the close for their hard fight. Attendance, 8000.

Source: The Scotsman, 1st May 1922

The wind-up to the league season at Pittodrie was in accordance with the fare that has been provided there this season. The 1-0 victory of Hearts over Aberdeen made the Tynecastle club's existence in the first Division secure for another season, and while the result appeared to be popular with the 12,000 spectators, it cannot be said that the play could have been mistaken for the efforts of teams other than those at the bottom of the table. It was a most disappointing game. Play was strenuous enough and players did not spare themselves, yet on both sides the collective shortcomings were such as to reduce the game to a very ordinary affair. The vagaries of the weather rendered the conditions at times atrocious, but, even considering these, it was a poor game. Hearts were the more slickly moving lot in attack, but it was evident that the vital importance of the result affected play, but the result that while they played well up to a point, attempts to attempts to score were amateurish in the extreme. Not that Aberdeen were any better, for they too had unaccepted chances. Although their execution was poor, Hearts always gave the impression of having more purpose in their play, and they deserved victory.
It was not until fifteen minutes from the close that, following clever play by Meikle, Stringfellow atoned for earlier misses by beating Blackwell at close quarters. The goal heralded the most interesting period of the game, as on several occasions later Aberdeen came nigh to equalising, and Hearts came very near to increasing their lead. Gilfillan effected some clever saves in the visitors' goal, and he was the player who had most credit by the result. On the Aberdeen side, Blackwell, Forsyth. and Milne took the eye most in defence, and in a forward line that was energetic enough but was very disjointed, Grant and Middleton were best.
For Hearts, Gilfillan, Crossan, and Dunsmuir were safe defenders, but the team was weak at half-back. Of the forwards Wilson was easily the most effective, and it was astonishing how some of his well-placed passes across the goalmouth were not improved upon. Meikle, too, played well, but all the inside trio were woefully weak at close quarters.

Source: Aberdeen Daily Journal 1st May 1922