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Broch match Dons in Testimonial tussle
IT TOOK Fraserburgh less than a minute to find the net as Aberdeen arrived in town to celebrate the testimonial of Derek Milne.
Fraserburgh 3;
Aberdeen 3.
An Aberdeen side, with realistically five or six players who should be vying for a first team place, found themselves behind courtesy of an Allan Hale penalty after he was brought down by Jared Hodgkiss.
The lead wasn't to last however as Aberdeen found the equaliser on eight minutes. Dons new signing Tommy Wright rose, unmarked, to head home a Michael Paton cross past a helpless Billy Gordon who was left with no chance as the ball found the bottom corner.
There was a worry for Fraserburgh fans as striker Michael Stephen limped off with a calf injury after less than 15 minutes, even more of a shock came to some Broch fans as Dean Elrick came on to fill the void left in the front line, at least until half-time.
Aberdeen then got their second and the lead. Chris Maguire, who was having rather a rough time against Ryan Christie, connected with a Sone Aluko freekick to nod past Gordon for a second with 24 minutes gone.
Aberdeen keeper John Bateman faced a stern test as Marc Dickson powered a strike from 30 yards and Bateman could only tip the ball over the bar
Michael Paton scored what looked to be the goal that would seal the game on the cusp of half-time. He curled an effort in from the edge of the ox, clipping the post as it went in for good measure.
Both teams returned to the pitch without change after the interval and Aberdeen looked in no mood to let up as looked to pressurise the Broch defence. Maguire came within a whisker of making it 4-1 with a freekick that first-half substitute keeper Paul Leask was happy to see rebound away from goal after he was well beaten.
Graham Johnston then found himself through with a great chance courtesy of a superb Russelll McBride, who was now playing up-front, ball. Johnston ran through but Bateman got enough on the ball to encourage it to trickle out for a corner.
Hale's subsequent corner found a leaping McBride who powered a header into the Aberdeen net. McBride impressed up front after moving from centre-back at half-time. The pace of Allan Hale, who was playing one of his best games in a Broch shirt, also caused the Aberdeen defence a lot of problems as they looked to have two men attempting to cover him for most of the game.
Less than two minutes later Hale was again taken down in the box but this time by de Visscher and testimonial man Milne stepped up to smash the ball into the back of the net.
Aberdeen looked to have a strong penalty claim but the referee judged Dean Elrick to have won the ball and unsurprisingly there wasn't much of a shout from any of the Aberdeen players for a penalty. Maguire stayed down for several minutes with cramp.
Fraserburgh in all deserved the draw after working extremely well against a professional XI for 90 minutes. The fact Aberdeen didn't substitute any of the players would should be in contention for first team berths on a Saturday may have been some indication of their want to win this game and players who will ahve been hoping to impress and perhaps secure a place on the team sheet on Saturday might be ruing their trip to the Bellslea come 3pm at Pittodrie on Saturday
Derek Milne told the Herald: "It was a great night, I suppose the fans enjoyed it as much as I did. I was pretty nervous for the first five or ten minutes and I think a few others were.
We settled down after the first goal, at 3-1 at half-time I think we expected a bit more from them and I was thinking four, five or six we'd be doing well, but credit to the boys in the second-half. There was a lot of confidence from the lads and I think Allan Hale's pace frightened them.
"As long as the lads have taken something out of it it's good for them too.
"Allan's being fined for that," he joked, "If Allan wants to take it he can take it, I got my chance with the second one. Everyone else needs to enjoy it, it isn't jsut about me.
"There's too many people I can thank and I'll be saying something on that later because I'll forget someone at the moment. But thanks to everyone who's been involved."
Fraserburgh: Gordon; Milne; Christie; McBride; West; Beagrie; Ralph; Dickson; Hale; Johnston; Stephen
Aberdeen: Bateman; Hodgkiss; Stirling Smith; Duff; Holm; Stuart Smith; de Visscher; Paton; Wright; Maguire; Aluko.
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Weather for Fraserburgh
Friday 25 May 2012
Today
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Temperature: 10 C to 18 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: East
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