Aberdeen 8 - 2 Leith Athletic

Dons and Rangers May Again Meet in Final
By NORMAN MACDONALD

WHAT price a Rangers-Aberdeen Scottish League Cup final for the third year in succession?
East Fife bar the Dons' way to the last stage, and Falkirk will argue the other semi-final with Rangers at Hampden.

All credit to East Fife and Hamilton Accies for their fighting football in the quarter finals. Both struck stout blow for the honour of "B" Division.
Aberdeen's 8-2 victory over Leith Athletic was founded on hat-tricks by Williams and Millar. The game was not a true test of the Dons' ability.

Bitter Memory

George Johnstone, Willie Cooper and the Aberdeen football public have a great respect for East Fife as cup fighters. Thev haven't forgotten the Pittodrie team's fate in the Scottish Cup in 1938.
That was the year the Methil team won the trophy. One of their victims was the Dons. It was in the third round. Aberdeen drew 1-1 at Methil, but the Fifers shocked the north bv winning 2-1 at Pittodrie in the replay.
If I remember right Adams and McLeod, the right-wing pair, were the saboteurs-in-chief of Aberdeen's hopes that year. Adams and Laird, right back, are the only two members of the 1938 East Fife team who are still going strong. Johnstone and Cooper are the Dons' sole survivors.
Leith Outclassed

The only consolation Leith Athletic derived from their visit to Pittodrie was their share of the 17,000 gate. Nobody will gainsay the Meadowbank team's pluck, but over the ninety minutes they were outclassed.
This success atones in some measure for the Dons' disastrous game against Falkirk, but Leith had neither the resource nor ability to provide them with a real testing ninety minutes.
The loss of a goal in the fourth minute was the best thing that could have happened to Aberdeen. It prevented them developing any superiority complex.
The Athletic were struck by an eight-minute Pittodrie cyclone. When the dust had cleared the Dons had scored four goals and were established as semi-finalists.

Rout Begins

Baird started it in seventeen minutes when he headed the equaliser from a corner from Harris. Within three minutes Aberdeen were leading. A crisp, well-directed through pass by Baird saw Millar nip in from the wing to beat King.
Practically from the re-centre the left winger demonstrated that his first effort was no fluke by repeating the performance from a slip from Williams.
The South African himself took a hand in the goal scoring in twenty-five minutes. A Baird header was travelling goalwards when Williams raced forward to mak' siccar.
Just on the interval the Dons' leader turned another Hamilton slip to account and three minutes after the start of the second half Williams completed his hat-trick with the aid of Hamilton.

Hamilton Joins In

The inside right joined the list of marksmen when he converted a ground pass from Millar and the latter also made his own total three and his side's eight in twelve minutes.
I thought both the Leith Athletic goals might have been prevented. Roberts, their left winger, was lying close when he netted after Love had flicked on a corner from the right. Johnstone did get his hand to the ball, but succeeded only in helping it into the net.
Leith's second goal in the dying minutes of the game was a defiant gesture. Broadley was the scorer, but Love was the man who carried the ball through to make the chance.

Waddell Sound

One man who did impress in the Pittodrie rear lines was Willie Waddell. He was certainly sound, if not spectacular, and his coolness and resource were very evident in the first quarter of an hour.
There was not enough liaison between the wing half backs and forwards. Although his contnbution was only a single goal, I thought Baird was the most energetic and enterprising attacker.
Millar deserves praise for his opportunism, and Williams, although I have seen him more scintillating, also knew where the goal lay.
Leith Athletic had a doughty defender in Peat, at left back, and Skinner, at right half, got through a power of work both in defence and attack.
In attack, most of the danger came from the inside forwards Love and Landells, a strong forcing pair.

Source: Press & Journal, 29th September 1947