Aberdeen 3 - 0 St. Bernards

St Bernards failed to produce the form shown against Raith Rovers in the previous round, and were well beaten by Aberdeen by 3 goals to 0. All the goals were scored in the first half at fairly regular intervals, by Paton in 12 minutes, Jackson in 25 minutes, and Jackson again in 40 minutes, each of the points being exceedingly well taken, and giving McAlpine, the St Bernards goalkeeper, no chance of saving. Aberdeen showed a fine understanding, and the feature of the game before the interval was their deadly shooting, McAlpine having a very busy time, and bringing off clever saves on many occasions. The St Bernards forwards seldom made much impression on the Aberdeen defence, though J. Henderson and Merrie each came near scoring, Hutton the International full back being in specially good form. In the second half the game ran on much more even lines, and the Edinburgh men were just as near scoring as Aberdeen, J. Henderson and Penman testing Blackwell severely, and McAlpine saving well from Miller, Paton, and Jackson. Law and Dunsmuir made a fine pair of backs for St Bernards, and McLeod was outstanding at left-back, where Paterson also played well. Leitch and J. Henderson were the best forwards, though all played hard. The outstanding men in a good Aberdeen side were Hutton, Jackson, Paton, and Smith. Beautiful weather conditions prevailed, and the crowd numbered about 20,000. The gate, exclusive of tax, amounted to £600.

Source: The Scotsman, 10th March 1924

For the second occasion, since the war, and for the fourth time in its history, the Aberdeen club finds itself in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup competition. At Pittodrie on Saturday the team had an easy win over St Bernard by 3 goals to 0, a margin which might have been increased had the winners not sacrificed effectiveness for ornamentation in the second half of the game. After the Edinburgh team's dismissal of Raith Rovers at Kirkcaldy in the preceding round, there was the likelihood of their springing a surprise at Aberdeen, and in expectation of a keen struggle fully 17,000 spectators paid to see the game. Expectations, of surprise were not realised as Aberdeen took a grip the game right at the start, and playing brilliant football had the issue in their keeping before half-time when they led by 3 goals to 0. Paton opened the scoring after ten minutes, when forcing play by Miller allowed Grant to get possession and Paton got the ball, and trapping it neatly very cleverly eluded Dunsmuir to shoot, McAlpine touching the ball but failing to stay its progress to the net. The visitors' right wing centre-forward frequently caused the home defence some uneasiness, Blackwell on one occasion, saving from Merrie at the expense of a corner. On the whole, however, Aberdeen had much better of the exchanges, and Paton, Miller, Rankin, Smith, and Davidson all had good tries for goal which were either parried by McAlpine, and missed the goal by the narrowest of margins. After 25 minutes play a great drive by Jackson brought out a flag kick. This was well placed, and the ball eventually going to Jackson, he lifted it over the heads of a crowd players to score with a swift high shot. Towards the interval Aberdeen monopolised the attacking, and got a well-deserved reward when Jackson scored a third goal. Grant got possession to cut in and slipped the ball along the ground in front of goal. It was missed by several players on both sides before it eventually went to Smith, who returned it and Jackson ran in to net with a powerful shot.

ABERDEEN EASE UP.

With the breeze to assist them in the second half, it was expected St Bernard would show up to better advantage, but, as events proved, they did not, and, although they were dangerous on several occasions, had actually to defend more than in the first half. Aberdeen again took the game in hand, but evidently content with their lead, resorted to fancy touches, which gave the game more of the atmosphere of a " friendly" than of a cup-tie. At the same time they had many attempts at goal, and McAlpine and his backs had a trying time. The trio, however, put up a stubborn resistance, and it was more on account of their fine work than any disinclination to score on Aberdeen's part that kept the score from being added to. Paton, Smith, Miller, Rankin, MacLachlan. and Grant all had good attempts at scoring, and two terrific free kicks taken by Hutton from just outside the penalty area were only turned aside at the expense of corners. There was a period during which the St Bernard attack rallied. Blackwell had to save from Penman and Lauder, and twice Jackson averted disaster when Merrie was in good position for scoring. Aberdeen, however, always had the issue in their keeping, and obviously could have gone further ahead had they taken the opposition as seriously as in the first half.
On the home side there was no weakness in defence - Hutton, Forsyth, and Jackson excelling - and, in a clever forward line, Paton (the cleverest forward afield) and Smith were best. McAlpine kept goal cleverly for St Bernard, and Law, Dunsmuir, and G. Henderson were others who showed up well in defence. In attack they were best served by Merrie, J. Henderson, and Lauder.

Source: Press & Journal, 10th March 1924