Aberdeen 2 - 3 Livingston

Aberdeen forced the opening corner in the 3rd minute but Livingston, defending in numbers, managed to block. As the visitors cleared their lines they broke with pace before the Dons defence reorganised and cleared. A minute later a Preece error allowed Livi to win their first corner. The visitors were looking the more dangerous at this stage and in the 8th minute Lilley got in behind the Dons defence and it was only the sharpness of Diamond that prevented McAllister from netting his cut back.

Muirhead had the ball in the net in the 12th minute but he was clearly offside and the goal was rightly chalked off. Two minutes later Rutkiewicz made a telling challenge on Lilley to prevent the striker breaking. However the visitors grabbed the lead in the 15th minute when McNamee was released on the right and hit the bye line before cutting the ball back. As the Dons defence looked static, Lilley fired the ball into the net to give Livi a deserved lead. Immediately after the goal Pasquinelli replaced a limping Fernandez.

Tosh was on fire now and almost added a second in the 37th minute. He beat two defenders on the edge of the box then tried to place the ball into the far corner of the net. Unfortunately the ball drifted wide of the target. The Dons finished the half in the ascendancy and it was the visitors who were happy to hear the half time whistle.

Livingston started brightly in the second period and following a series of corners they regained the lead. Preece had just made a great finger tip save from Pasquinelli but the defence failed to learn from their mistake as the same player was allowed to rise and head in off the post at the subsequent corner with 49 minutes on the clock. After collecting a couple of bookings (Diamond and Heikkinen) the Dons rolled their sleeves up and raised their game once more.

Heikkinen went close in the 57th minute when the keeper fumbled a fierce shot after he was set up by Zdrilic and two minutes later the Aussie was the provider once more as the Dons equalised for a second time. Zdrilic beat the offside trap and broke on the right before laying the ball into the path of Tosh who made no mistake with his finish. Clark replaced McNaughton in the 65th minute after the youngster had been the victim of some rough treatment. The Dons went close again in the 68th minute when Clark broke and found Booth in the centre. The striker failed to notice Zdrilic unmarked and went for goal allowing McKenzie to make the block.

Aberdeen had the upper hand by now but were finding the Livi defence a hard nut to crack. At the other end Livingston always looked dangerous on the break. The tie was on a knife-edge and could go either way. Preece had to look lively in the 89th minute when a cross was deflected goalwards. The keeper did well to tip the effort over the bar. A minute later the Dons defence fell asleep and Andrews headed inches wide of the target. In the final minute Clark gave away a cheap corner and Preece had to come out and claim the kick allowing the game to go into extra time.

Livingston created the first chance in the extra period when Pasquinelli lost Anderson and fired a shot inches wide of the target. Makel was more accurate in the 95th minute when he was given far too much space and fired in a great shot from 25 yards that gave Preece no chance. The Dons appeared to have lost their way now and were struggling to make an impact. And as the half time whistle sounded the home side had failed to threaten the Livi goal in that opening period.

Preece was forced to make a fine save in the opening minute then seconds later Booth tested McKenzie. The keeper fumbled the ball but there were no Dons players around to capitalise. A minute later Mackie fired in a cross, which was deflected away from the on rushing Zdrilic. McKenzie went close to carrying the ball over his own line in the 113th minute and two minutes later Clark fired in a telling cross which Booth flicked into the danger area before Livi scrambled the ball clear. Rutkiewicz headed wide in the 118th minute before Mackie ran across the goal and hit the post with a minute left on the clock. Then in the closing seconds Deloumeaux was booked when he went in for a challenge on the keeper to try and win a ball that he had every right to go for. Despite the effort the Dons once again miss out in a lucrative semi-final spot.