Aberdeen 2 - 1 Raith Rovers

Aberdeen lost their concentration after scoring and Rovers promptly equalised. The keeper later grabbed Ian Taylor's legs and the Kirkcaldy team paid the penalty - in more ways than one. 8,000 spectators were at the game.

Aberdeen made rapid progress towards the Raith goal and twice Bolton desperately cleared the ball into the crowd. It was obvious that Reid was going to have a busy afternoon and he saved magnificently when Taylor accepted a pass from Jim Forrest and shot hard from 16 yards. Next he prevented a goal by diving at Jens Petersen's feet and when the ball broke to Dave Robb the keeper was right in line to stop his terrific shot. It was one-way traffic and the over-worked Reid was in action again to stop a Tommy Craig header. In a couple of isolated breakaways Tommy McMillan and then Ally Shewan made mistakes but other defenders came to the rescue. On three occasions in rapid succession David Johnston broke clear on the right but his crosses to Taylor (twice) and Robb were fruitless. Johnston and Taylor were causing the Raith rearguard problems with their speed and the opening goal in 23 minutes came from Johnston. Reid failed to hold the winger's corner kick and Forrest scored with a left foot shot. This did not upset the Rovers and they replied in the most effective manner by equalising a minute later. Falconer passed to Wallace who avoided a tackle and blasted the ball into the roof of the net. Thus encouraged the visitors grew bolder and Falconer and Wallace nearly scored, Wallace's "goal" being offside.
The game was now simmering nicely and the Dons had lost their earlier initiative. Another tremendous Robb shot from Forrest's pass almost knocked Reid over and Gray just managed to tackle Jimmy Smith as he was about to shoot. Petersen came to Aberdeen's rescue with a timely tackle on Gillespie. The half ended with both keepers having wonderful saves from Forrest and Wallace.

Half Time 1-1

Wallace tried a solo burst after dis-possessing McMillan and Petersen raced in to clear the danger. Happy with the score at 1-1 the visitors were playing with great determination and neither Bolton nor McDonald was standing on ceremony - the ball was being booted away first-time. The Dons were pressing hard for the lead and Reid did well to palm away a Shewan free kick. He followed this by brilliantly touching round the post a Forrest header from a Johnston cross - even Forrest applauded the keeper. Reid was now being seriously over¬worked and he came to Raith's rescue again when he denied Robb and Taylor from netting with accurate headers. It was unfortunate for the visitors that Reid undid all his good work by grabbing Taylor's legs and conceding a penalty. Craig efficiently sent the kick low into Reid's left hand corner in the 60th minute.
Rovers retaliated and Wallace came close to scoring. Then Martin Buchan replaced Smith. Despite Aberdeen's big territorial advantage they were missing too many chances. This was due partly to Reid's brilliance but the shooting, particularly by Johnston, was disappointing. The game ended as it began with the Dons on the offensive and Forrest and Craig tested Reid. He saved from Forrest but was beaten by Craig, whose shot hit the bar and went over. The narrow victory ought to have been much more emphatic.

Source: Match Programme, 7th February 1996