Aberdeen 3 - 0 St. Johnstone

St Johnstone Defence Flattered by Lack of Snap

Aberdeen continue to pick up points - they have not been defeated since the opening day of the season - but the manner in which victory was achieved against St Johnstone at Pittodrie left one with the feeling that against sterner opposition there would have been a different story to tell.

There was weakness in the back division, while with the forwards it was the old, old story. The ball was worked cleverly enough in the open, but near goal there was a lack of snap about their work, and not one of the five could be absolved from blame.
This was especially evident in the second half, when st Johnstone were forced to play McCall at right back owing to Welsh being injured. The only reward for long spells of pressure against an overworked defence was a goal by McKenzie near the end.
Everything in the home home garden was lovely when Williams, deputising for Strauss, accepted two easy scoring chances in the first fifteen minutes. The Springbok might have had at least one more goal before interval, but he showed a tendency to dribble the ball instead of shooting.

BAR TO RESCUE

St Johnstone tried hard without success until the interval. McGeachie. in particular kept swinging the ball into the goalmouth, but Cook in the centre had no luck. One tearing shot beat Johnstone all the way but rebounded to safety from the underside of the bar.
The second half was a dull affair, in which chances were missed on both sides. More was seen of Caskie this half, but his many fine crosses were not turned to advantage. Th ehome side also missed chances until McKenzie accepted a slip from Hamilton, tricked McCall and Moulds and sent onto the net.<.br> Johnstone was in his best form in the home goal, and several times cut out crosses in confident style. The backs, however, did not impress. Graham started confidently enough, but allowed Caskie too much rope ini the second half, while Adey, after failing to cope adequately with Hird in the first half, had some hefty clearances when opposed to the injured Welsh after half-time.
The weakness in the backs was reflected in the play of Nicholson, who did not dominate the centre of the field as he usually does. He got through a tremendous amount of work, however, and often brought off timely interventions. Dunlop and Thomson on the wings both had a good game, and excelled in forcing play.

NOT IMPRESSIVE

There was no outstanding personality in attack. Armstrong in particular having a bad match. Williams took his goals well, but otherwise failed to impress. Smith's speed was an asset at times, but Hamilton and McKenzie both failed to release accurate passes after good outfield play.
Wylie brought off some good saves in the St Johnstone goal, while Clark kicked strongly throughout. Moulds was a tower of strength in the middle, and McGeachie and Jennett did grand forcing work in the first half, although tiring later.
There was a lack of snap in the attack, and Cook might have scored twice with headers. Hird was dangerous with his quick bursts, and Caskie, although not outstanding, put over several crosses which might have been put to better use.

Source: Press & Journal, 19th September 1938