Well, at least the Aberdeen fans were more clinical than the players. As the not-so Dandy Dons huffed and puffed in their attempts to break down St Mirren’s stubborn, jutted-jaw defiance, a posse from the red and white legion got straight to the point. “Derek, Derek get tae ****” came the bellow from the away end as some brassed off followers told Derek McInnes to venture to a destination that you won’t find in the holiday brochures.
It was a frustrating afternoon all round for Aberdeen. They have won just two of their last eight league games and have scored just once in three games. McInnes’ men had plenty of possession, had numerous set-pieces and got themselves into decent areas but there was a sighing lack of guile and instinct at the key moments while the cutting edge was about as sharp as a baby’s rattle. The addition to the starting XI of new signing, Matty Kennedy, did little to help the creative cause. Aberdeen even had a clear-cut penalty waved away after Sam Cosgrove was hauled to the floor by Conor McCarthy.
If that was a sore one to stomach, then the reaction of some of the fans at the conclusion just about had McInnes reaching for the antacids.
“I’m a bit gutted by it,” he lamented. “I don’t think it was a lot of them but it was enough to be heard. I’m disappointed, of course I am. We’re all human at the end of the day. You don’t sign up to being Aberdeen manager to be popular. If results don’t come you expect criticism, but I’m confident we’ve got the squad here to meet the demands put on us. We just didn’t do enough to get that goal and we’ve got to take responsibility for that.”
With a cold, swirling wind posing plenty of mischief it took a wee while for the players to get to grips with this particular meteorological menace. There was plenty of industry on show but not much invention and it was Aberdeen who had the better moments. Ash Taylor found himself in splendid isolation and met a corner but he made a hash of the header and it drifted harmlessly wide.
Not long after that, the visitors were gifted another chance through the kind of defensive sloppiness that would have added a one or two more grey flecks to Jim Goodwin’s already silvery coiffure. Vaclav Hladky, the St Mirren keeper, nonchalantly caressed a lazy pass out to Akin Famewo in the box but Niall McGinn pounced and was only denied a goal when Famewo spared his custodian with a lunging block.
The St Mirren defence was creaking like the outhouse door in a gale as Aberdeen probed away and upped the pressure. On the half-hour, Scott McKenna was presented with a chance but his strike was deflected over by another desperate act of salvage.
They may have been under the cosh but the hosts remained resolute, disciplined and organised and with half-time looming they almost pinched the lead. A calamitous pass back to his keeper by Dylan McGeouch was seized upon by Jon Obika but his cushioned effort came back off the post.
That out-of-the-blue chance may have been spurned but it gave St Mirren a lift. They emerged for the resumption with purpose and Tony Andreu had a shot saved while the lively Ilkay Durmus whistled a raking drive just wide. At the other end, Funso Ojo tried his luck from distance but Hladky saved down low. Aberdeen had ran out of ideas while St Mirren were deserving of their point.
“Three or four months ago we might have lost that game 1-0,” said Goodwin. “This was a positive point in the right direction. I’m just glad I’m not here talking about another hard luck story.”
Goodwin added that Paul McGinn, who was on the St Mirren bench yesterday, could be on his way to Hibernian. “There’s been an enquiry and the ball is in Paul’s court,” he said. “We don’t want to lose anyone, especially someone as important as Paul has been to this club over the years. But we don’t want to keep a player that is unhappy.”
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