Aberdeen 1 - 0 Rangers

Strengthen Bid For Alliance Championship

Aberdeen strengthened their bid for the Alliance League championship by defeating Rangers A at Pittodrie Park yesterday by the only goal of the match. The Young Dons' victory was well merited on play, and but for the fine display of the Light Blues' defence they would have triumphed by a bigger margin.
Play was fast, and the game was fought out on cup-tie lines. The home team held a decided advantage territorially, and that they took so long to turn it to account was due the sound work of the Rangers' defence. The visiting attack disappointed, Kinnear being the only one of the quintette to impress.

Aggressive From Start

Forcing play from the half-backs saw Aberdeen A take the aggressive from the start, and a lob from Bain hit the crossbar and went behind. Smith was prominent on the left, but he failed to take advantage of an opening provided by Devers.
The home goal ran a narrow escape in the Light Blues' first real raid. Westland punched out a drive by Kinnear, and the ball was going to Wallace's foot when Urquhart nipped in to clear, and sustained a knock in doing so.
Apart from occasional raids by the visitors Aberdeen kept hammering away at the Light Blues' defence, but, so well did the latter cover up, that the interval arrived with no scoring.
Aberdeen quickly returned to the attack on resuming, and fifteen minutes after the restart they got their due. A fierce shot by Brown was saved by Jenkins at the expense of a corner, and from the flag kick Devers scored with a header.
Only a brilliant save by Jenkins prevented Reid putting the Young Dons further ahead, and until the close the home team, generally, were on top.

Defence Sound

The Dons' defence was sound, and they were superior at half-back, where Ritchie and Gavin were particularly effective. In a nippy attack Brown, Bain, and Smith were seen to advantage. Jenkins, Hay, and Drysdale were the stalwarts of a grand Ranger' defence.

Source: Press & Journal, 2nd January 1936