Aberdeen 3 - 0 Heart of Midlothian

CAPTAIN'S INDISCRETION

It is not my intention to deprive Aberdeen of any of the glory to which they are entitled for a splendid performance at Pittodrie Park. Nevertheless, they can be certain that rarely will opponents wittingly or unwittingly contribute so much to their own defeat as on Saturday did Hearts.
After the third round of the cup I pointed out how close a player of another club came to losing a tie for his side through rash reprehensible foul as the result of which the offender, having been warned for his conduct, was so affected as to become a liability to his team.

Parker, Hearts' right back, was guilty of a similar indiscretion at Pittodrie, was similarly rebuked by the referee, for over an hour was the butt of the home crowd's disapproval, and could not - indeed was allowed not - to recover from his blunder. On this occasion, however, Parker, unlike the player previously mentioned - also captain of his side - did not have the consolation that the other members of his eleven played so well as to save his face.

RETALIATION

There was no excuse for Parker's manner of retaliation against Hather as the winger fell after he had fouled the back and had been penalised. Indeed, I am sure that if the referee had seen the infringement Hearts would in less than half an hour's play have been a player short. As it was, the referee had to depend on the version of the linesman. Yet Hather's foul was not his first against the same opponent and it was far from his last. Furthermore, he made a most remarkable recovery after having rolled over the ground in paroxysms of agony.

Parker had thereafter to suffer various forms physical punishment in addition to the mental torture inflicted by the crowd, who went much too far in their condemnation. I have never heard even on the wildest Rangers-Celtic day such prolonged booing of a single player. Parker could do nothing about it, and in the circumstances Hearts might have been better off if he had been ordered off.

Aberdeen had been much the better side in the play that preceded the incident but when the first half had almost expired and they had no lead despite the fact that they had played with the wind their chance of winning appeared to be considerably reduced. Half a minute from half-time, however, and just after Bauld had headed grotesquely wide of the goal from a perfect cross by Souness, O'Neil took a short pass from Hather, sidestepped Laing neatly, and from 25 yards directed a left-foot shot high and into the net.

UNINSPIRED SIDE

That fine goal gave Aberdeen no insurmountable lead, and Hearts must have been reasonably satisfied. With the wind in their favour, however, they deteriorated astonishingly, always, of course, lacking the inspiration that a normal captain would have provided. The tip-tapping of the inside forwards was lamentable, and when Leggat scored a second goal for Aberdeen in 59 minutes Hearts were surely out of the Cup. Hamilton's headed goal eight minutes later merely emphasised Aberdeen's superiority and Hearts' perturbation.

The second half dwindled into mediocrity, enlivened unfortunately by several instances of bad sportsmanship, the principal participants in which were Allister and Adie.

Martin, though he had not a quarter of the work of Watters, nevertheless had the save of the match when in the second minute he leaped from a crouching position and tipped over the cross-bar a full blooded shot from Cumming. He was stoutly protected by the outfield defenders, of whom Glen was outstanding. Every Aberdeen forward played a conspicuous part - the clever, elusive Leggat, the shrewd Hamilton, the eel-like Buckley, the calculating O'Neil, and the speedy Hather. Only Urquhart and to a lesser extent Souness were comparable forwards; Hearts' inside men were abject failure. The wing halves, Glidden, though he was sorely beset through the intelligence of O'Neil and Hamilton in giving Buckley the ball on the ground, and Watters were the only other players who retrieved some reputation from the wreckage that was Hearts.

Source: Scotsman, 15th March 1954

BATTLEFIELD

Match Programme, 20th March 1954