Source: The Scotsman, 27th December 1909
Source: Aberdeen Daily Journal, 27th December 1909
A CHRISTMAS GREETING.
Aberdeen commenced their holiday tour on Saturday, when they visited Airdrie on League business. The weather was quite frosty and clear overhead; but the pitch, which had been liberally treated with sand, was ice-bound in parts, and rather dangerous for fast-going. Players found difficulty in gauging the ball off rebounds, as it came with greater velocity than usual. In this manner the ball was frequently in touch, the halves having more than their ordinary work to do to keep it in play. The first item of note occurred shortly after the game started, when Colman made to clear a bit of combination and fell in the attempt, thus letting the home forwards in on Mutch with nothing to stop them. Their shooting off the hard pitch was a good bit wild, and the same remark applies to the Aberdeen's right wing, who immediately after had a golden opportunity offered them for opening the score. Play was transferred from end to end with great rapidity, and though the 'Onians got away frequently, their marksmanship was not so good as those of the visitors. Taking a bigger hold of the play, Aberdeen made the home defence look lively. Some good shooting was indulged in by the forwards, Ewart being exceptionally clever, and one from Lennie he was only able to clear with nothing to spare, when Millar fastened on and potted the ball over the heads of those in front. The equaliser came almost immediately; the rush should have been checked at the start, but the 'Onians got into their swing, and could not be stopped till the ball was safely past Mutch. A simple infringement inside the penalty line was harshly punished with the maximum penalty, but Mutch saved brilliantly, having anticipated the move by Nicol, he made the kick look a very trifling affair indeed. To the close of half-time, Aberdeen were more in the picture, and honours even when the whistle blew about represented the value of the play. It was Aberdeen's second half; they forced the pace, and were always dangerous at goalmouth. Lennie and O'Hagan were strictly shadowed, the consequence being that Murray and Simpson got more of the ball and made it spin along to some tune. Another trifling penalty was granted against the home side this time, and Bobby Simpson made no mistake, Ewart being helpless to save. Continuing the pressure, Aberdeen were due another, but somebody or something always got in the way of well-directed shots. Lennie, however, got a stray shot his way, and worming past the defence, the goalkeeper was beaten for the third time with an express, which he could not have looked. at. There was no doubt about the better team now, Aberdeen sending on their Christmas greeting with a 3-1 victory to their home supporters.THE PLAYERS.
Ewart, the reserve goalkeeper for Airdrie, is a lively chap, and had some daring saves; in fact, we question if Macdonald would have done as well on such a hard pitch. The backs played well but the burden of the work was thrown on the middle line, who were in splendid trim. In the front line, honours were carried by the right pair, who gave Mutch some very hard shots to save. The centre was a bit erratic, while the left were fair. Mutch showed how capable a custodian he is by only allowing one goal past him in an afternoon when mistakes could have happened at any time. Not given to gallery work, he gets there, and clears quickly, his away performance stamping him as one of the best custodians at present. Bar that accidental slip, Colman was great, and being concerned in coaching young Low, Donald put in a great amount of work. For a first appearance Low did well. He lacks experience certainly, but that can only be remedied by play, otherwise he did as well as any that could have been put in his place. The halves were all good, with Millar slightly ahead of the other two. McKenzie was good and bad by turns. He was quick on the ball, passed judiciously, but he wants to he played regularly before one can seriously write about him. He has one good trait, and that is, he is a trier all the time. It was only on occasion that O'Hagan and Lennie. were allowed much freedom to get away, but what they did do was generally dangerous. Simpson and Murray were more frequently seen, showing some fine work throughout the game. On the run of the play we should say Aberdeen deserved their win.CHATTY BITS.
The compliments of the season to our readers. A better result than that which came from Airdrie on Saturday Aberdonians have not got for some time, and they seemed to enjoy it. The management were getting severely roasted for playing young Low at Airdrie, but their choice was justified on play. It was quite apparent to those at Pittodrie that Harper has not recovered from his illness, and was soon seen to be limping and out of condition. Harper would never have stood the game at Airdrie. "Better a younger, sound trier than an experienced player out of condition," was the remark of one sage counsellor. In the cup tie between Fraserburgh Thistle and Ellon United on Saturday, the Thistle won a good game by 4-1. Evidently the sea trip had been too much for the Aberdeen players when they were beaten by 7 goals to 2. This is the largest number of goals that Mutch has let past him for many a day. Somebody must have been blundering. We hope to see better things this week. As usual at this holiday time, there are many visitors in town. On Saturday we saw Jim Dalgarno at Pittodrie, looking quite well. He expects, to turn out for the London Caledonians soon. We hear considerable growling at the North British Railway Company for not running a special to Dundee on Saturday. How can they expect people to travel if they don't offer facilities. The present fare is too dear for a single day's outing. An explanation of how O'Hagan does not figure in the Irish trial games is found in the fact that Aberdeen could not afford to give Charlie leave of absence, especially as the selectors could see him play on Boxing Day in Ireland. Once this holidays are over, the serious business of the cup ties will be upon us. Then the internationals will fill the picture, once the second round is past. In the selection of teams there is a feeling that the claims of Mutch cannot be overlooked. He has the lowest number of goals scored against him in the League, for this season. He fairly took the fancy of the Airdrie people by the way he saved a penalty on Saturday.Source: Bon-Accord, 30th December 1909