East Fife 1 - 4 Aberdeen

Aberdeen who look very sharp in attack open the scoring in 4 min when Hackett races through the defence and his square pass finds Gray who has the simple task of steering the ball wide of the keeper.1 min later Thorpe manages a great shot which the keeper gathers at the second attempt but Aberdeen continue to press forward and McDowall hooks a shot from Trialist 8 of the line. Hewitt is only inches wide with a shot from the edge of the area in 15 min but 1 min later Grant breaks down the right and his cross is deflected into the net by the outstretched leg of McDowall with Hackett claiming the credit.
The keeper does well in 23 min when he races from his goal to clear from Grant then within the space of 60 seconds 4 min later he denies the onrushing Hewitt twice when it looked like certain goals.
Disaster strikes in the 30th min when a Hewitt cross is headed up in the air and Ogston is quickest to the ball but heads into his own goal with his attempted pass back. With a number of fans just arriving thinking it to be a 7.30 pm kick off they are now witnessing a display from Aberdeen that is seldom seen in the Reserve League East. East Fife almost sneak one back in 42 min when a deep cross from trialist 3 deceives the Dons keeper who just manages to turn the ball onto the top of the net.

Pittman replaces McDowell at half time and within 3 min the Fifers pull a goal back. Colin Scott gather a Thorpe pass in the area and his shot on the turn beats Watt. Play is confined mainly to the midfield where Tom McCafferty enters the fray in 61 min for Bell.
Aberdeen score against the balance of play in 69 min when the keeper fumbles a corner to the feet of trialist 8 who slides the ball home. The game is now outwith the reach of the Fifers and trialist 3 is booked in 82 min for tripping Grant followed by Thorpe in 87 min for an off the ball incident spotted by the stand side linesman. In the end Aberdeen fielding experienced players from their 1st and 2nd teams had to much class for the Fife side but the score line rather flatters the Dons as the goals were preventable.

Source: East Fife Reserve rogramme 21st december 1987