Aberdeen 1 - 1 St. Johnstone

St Johnstone Rely on Swinging Game

Poor marksmanship cost Aberdeen a point in their game with St Johnstone at Pittodrie. It was a hard tussle, in which the home team had the major number of chances, but failed but failed to turn them to account.

The Dons, as usual, combined well in the outfield but this was nullified to a great extent by the ineffectiveness of the inside forwards in finishing.
St Johnstone relied on an open, swinging game, which kept the home defence at full stretch, and their forwards were never far off the mark. The result was fair to both teams.
Aberdeen had the better of the exchanges in the first half and ought to have lead by more than one goal at the interval. Chances were missed by Moore, Warnock, and Mills before the inside-left opened the scoring ten minutes from the interval. It was a well-taken point. Cooper swung a free kick into the goalmouth, and the alert Mills dashed forward to head it into the net.

Fierce Attack

Aberdeen opened the second period with a fierce attack which was repelled by a sound St Johnstone defence. The visitors were then at their best,
The equaliser came from Stewart, who rounded Cooper and beat Smith with a low shot which the goalkeeper got his hands to but could not stop.
Frequent dashes by the Saints' wingers gave the home defence considerable trouble, and Davidson should have given the visitors the lead when he found himself in possession about ten yards from goal, but he sent high over the bar.

Point-Blank Range.

The Dons too had their raids, and on one occasion Warnock missed from point-blank range.
Little fault could be found with the home defence. Smith had many smart saves to his credit, but there are some who though that he should have saved Stewart's shot. Cooper and McGill had not an easy task with the Saints' wingers, but held them fairly well. Falloon was outstanding in defence. Time and again he broke up a Saints' attack and let his own forwards away. Fraser played a strong forcing game, but O'Reilly did not strike his best form, being slow in the tackle.

Moore Subdued.

Seldom has Moore been so subdued. He rarely got the better of Moulds, the bis St Johnstone pivot, and he lacked that snap which is generally a feature of his play. Warnock played wholeheartedly, but missed not a few chances through wild shooting. Love, on the left wing, played his part, but the two best forwards were Beynon and Mills.
The former was the best forward on view. He beat his man with ease and his crosses were accurate. Mills was one of the few who seemed to realise this, for on many occasions in the second period he swung the ball out to the tight winger, and it invariably resulted in an Aberdeen advance.

Go-Ahead Team

St Johnstone are a go-ahead team, who as they have already demonstrated, can hold their own with the best of them. They were sound in defence, Welsh and Moulds being outstanding. Mason was a forcing half-back, and in a forward line which swung the ball about in fine style, Davidson, Stewart, and Tennant were prominent.

Source: Press & Journal, 27th November 1933