Aberdeen 3 - 2 Motherwell

A revitalised second-half saved Dons' Reserves from what threatened to be a poor performance and result against Motherwell at Pittodrie last Saturday.
Aberdeen were two down well before half-time and that scoreline remained until 20 minutes from time when the revival took dramatic effect and the result was a more-acceptable 3-2 victory.
'We simply didn't play well in the first-half said coach Teddy Scott. It was extremely annoying because we were allowing ourselves to be completely outplayed. There was not enough effort, our passing was poor and we could have been five down when the interval arrived.' Evasive action then became the order of the day. The wayward team were shaken up by the half-time pep talk and a 4-4-2 formation was changed to 4-3-3 with Ian Porteous being pushed forward.
Gradually, as form improved during the second-half, Peter Weir pushed up more and more to make it 4-2-4. This made a terrific difference to the flow of the game. Weir was playing his third game for the Reserves after recovering from a virus problem and it was his contribution which did most to pull Dons around.
For the first goal Weir worked a one-two move with Paul Wright and finished it off smartly. Then he equalised from the penalty spot with 10 minutes to go. Finally, in the very last minute with what would have been a disappointing 2-2 draw on the cards Tom Jones rattled a shot off the bar and Porteous moved in to finish it off. It was a case of a spot of professional planning at half-time working out exactly as required to completely transform the likely result.
'In the end they had done their job and all was well,' added the coach who conceded that Motherwell had looked a good strong side until Dons eventually got on top to clinch it.

Source: Match Programme, 29th August 1987