Aberdeen 2 - 1 Feyenoord

Pre match conditions were poor with heavy rainfall in the Aberdeen area. Feyenoord came to defend and Dons manager Porterfield decided to throw his young strikers into the fray with Joe Miller, John Hewitt and Willie Falconer all starting. Aberdeen started well and in the opening minutes Bett was felled as he made a probing run. This was to set the tone for the evening as the Dutch opted to employ some brutal tactics. The resulting free kick was cleared for the first corner of the match and Willie Miller went close with an effort from the edge of the box.

Aberdeen continued to dominate and a penetrating run from Hewitt ended with the striker testing the keeper with a low drive. The same player then fired inches over the bar from sixteen yards before Peter Weir went on a maisy run before firing in a fierce shot that was beaten away by the Dutch keeper. Disaster then struck in the 23rd minute when Feyenoord made a rare foray forward. Ex Ranger, Dave Mitchell beat the offside trap and ran in on goal only to be upended by Jim Leighton. The referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot and Elstrup stepped up to send Leighton the wrong way and draw first blood for the visitors.

Aberdeen continued their dominance after the break and an early Weir corner saw Hewitt send a looping header over the bar. Referee Fredriksson had seen enough of the brutality from Feyenoord and produced a straight red card for Wijnstekers for a challenge that was no worse than anything that preceded it. The subsequent free kick produced another chance for the Dons but the effort scraped past the post before a rare attack from the Dutchman had Elstrup firing over although Leighton looked to have it covered.

Hewitt should have scored minutes later but failed to make a decent connection allowing the keeper to save. Aberdeen finally broke the ten men down in the 67th minute when a Bett cross found Joe Miller and the youngster netted from close range after his first effort was blocked by the keeper. Falconer should have added a third but drilled his effort wide of the post with only the keeper to beat. A late flurry in the closing minutes failed to find a third and after the match manager Porterfield was scathing of the match official.

"The decision to play a 4-3-3 formation was the right one and it was a good display. We asked a lot from Peter Weir as he had been out for so long, but you could see how the Dutch reacted to his inclusion with usually three players around him. We lost a bad goal but we had the resolve to come back from that and win the game. Really we should have had more than two goals to show for our efforts. On another night we could have won with a bit to spare, although it will be a bit of a casualty department tomorrow and I hope that all the players will be ok for the Skol Cup Final."