Aberdeen 3 - 1 Falkirk

Falkirk fans in the crowd of 7,300 loudly cheered their team on to the Pittodrie pitch after securing their Premier League status with the previous Saturday's sensational victory over Celtic. The small size of the crowd indicated that Aberdeen supporters were glad to see the end of the league campaign. The vociferous visiting supporters were silenced in the 8th minute when young Joe Miller underlined his great potential with a simple goal. The teenager casually collected a loose ball in the Falkirk half and made space for himself before hitting an accurate drive from 20 yards. Kerr then had to hook away a Brian Grant back-header and in a brief Falkirk attack a Brian Irvine header cleared the danger from a corner kick. Jim Bett was prominent in Aberdeen's midfield and he caused havoc with a free kick before spreading the ball intelligently to Miller on the right in another move. Young David Robertson used his speed and skill to outwit Gilmour and McGivern when they attacked down their right wing. In general the Dons had pushed Falkirk into reverse gear and they took another positive step towards qualification to the next season's UEFA Cup with a second goal in 22 minutes. Steve Gray had a run down the right and, from his cross, Brian Grant sent in a teasing lob which cannoned off the crossbar before nestling behind Marshall. In 28 minutes they went further ahead when John Hewitt converted a penalty.
Falkirk were rather disenchanted facing a three goal deficit and their tackling became rather robust. Dempsey was singled out by the referee, for fouling young Miller, as a warning signal to other players. Baptie then exemplified the spirit which had kept Falkirk in the top 12 with a penetrating run from the halfway line and his low shot gave Jim Leighton his first difficult save of a one-sided game. A dipping shot from Willie Miller almost made it 4-0.

The skipper decided to lend more weight to his attack and almost caught out the visitors with an early cross, which was met by Joe Miller and MacLeod and the ball spun off them into Marshall's hands. He had to be even more alert when both Brian Irvine and David Robertson had flashing drives which almost produced goals. A few minutes later he was called into action to produce a good save from a low shot by Stewart McKimmie.
Falkirk shocked the Dons by bouncing back into the game in 60 minutes when Nicol gave the Bairns a lifeline. The visitors were not given the chance to capitalise on their goal as the home side stepped up a gear and resumed their onslaught on the Falkirk goal. Gray's free kick was headed down by Irvine and Joe Miller poked the ball over the bar from two yards out. Gray was again in the action when he sent a finely-judged pass to Bett. Challenged by Baptie the midfielder cracked the ball into the side-netting. Baptie was later injured and was replaced by Kidd. Next Irvine had a chance with a strong header but the ball went soaring over the bar. At last Falkirk created a chance and Eadie hit an 18-yard shot off Leighton's crossbar. Willie Miller ended the game with a vicious, low shot which whistled narrowly past Marshall's right-hand post.

Source: Match Programme, 8th November 1995