Aberdeen 4 Queen’s Park 1

Queen’s Scottish Cup adventure ended in defeat as Aberdeen ran out 4-1 winners at Pittodrie.

A combination of factors forced Head Coach Callum Davidson to make changes to the starting line up. Ryan Duncan was unable to play against his parent club, while both Leon King and Ben Jackson were cup-tied. In came Zack Mauchin, Nikola Ujdur and Seb Drozd in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Kyle Hurst and Drozd looking to support front man Zak Rudden as much as possible. Roddy MacGregor made a welcome return to the substitutes bench after a long injury lay off.

The Quarter Final tie kicked off in bright sunshine with the home side immediately on the offensive, forcing a corner in the first minute. The Queen’s defence coped comfortably enough and pushed forward forcing a corner of their own a minute later.

Adam Devine cleverly picked out Jack Turner at the edge of the box who stuck a fierce first time volley goalwards, however an Aberdeen defender blocked the shot which had Dimitar Mitov in the home goal scrambling to his left.

More pressure followed from the visitors as Jack Turner fired a superb long pass over the head of the Aberdeen full back and found Seb Drozd bearing down on goal. Unfortunately, the Spider’s goal scoring hero from our victory in the last round at Ibrox couldn’t get it under control and although he managed to pass to the supporting Zak Rudden, the Queen’s forward was crowded out and the chance was lost.

The home side turned up the pressure towards the half hour mark as a strong run down Queen’s right side ended with Aberdeen captain Graeme Shinnie, making his 600th appearance for the Dons, shooting for goal but his shot was comfortably saved by Cal Ferrie.

Aberdeen took the lead after 27 minutes. A corner on the far side was played in towards the near post and Kevin Nisbet flicked the ball into the net.

A minute later and the home side doubled their advantage. Queen’s defence failed to clear properly and when the ball was played out wide to Shayden Morris his cross was tapped home at the back post by Oday Dabbagh.

Queen’s had to see the game out to half time without further scoring, and nearly did so, however a shot from the edge of the box by Graeme Shinnie found the corner of the net in the last action of the half.

Half Time: Aberdeen 3 – Queen’s Park 0

Adam Devine picked up a knock in the first half and was replaced by Jadan Raymond as the second half got underway.

After a quiet opening to the second period, things took a turn for the worse for Queen’s as Aberdeen scored a fourth, this time almost a carbon copy of the second goal as Morris went down the right wing, crossed and Oday Dabbagh tapped home from close range.

Despite the scoreline, Queen’s kept trying to play football and looked determined to seek a way back into the game.

The large group of travelling Queen’s fans were rewarded after 68 minutes when a Raymond free kick was played into the Aberdeen box, there was somewhat of a stramash and the ball broke to Zak Rudden, who fired home what was a consolation goal for the Spiders.

Roddy MacGregor came on for Kyle Hurst after 75 minutes, making a welcome return to first team action after a long period out with injury.

Despite shipping four goals, there was time for Cal Ferrie to make a tremendous double save, the second from a header at the back post was top drawer.

With a few minutes to play, one of Queen’s promising youngsters, Aiden McGinlay, made his senior debut – hopefully the first of many top team appearances.

Queen’s fought hard but it just wasn’t to be our day and we exit the Scottish Cup for this season, albeit with some memories which will last a lifetime.

Full time: Aberdeen 4 – Queen’s Park 1

Aberdeen: Dimitar Mitov, Graeme Shinnie (C), Mats Knoester, Kevin Nisbet (Pape Habib Gueye 58mins), Leighton Clarkson, Oday Dabbagh (Fletcher Boyd 58mins), Ante Palaversa, Shayden Morris (Dante Polvara 78mins), Alfie Dorrington (Jack Milne 72mins), Alexander Jensen, Topi Keskinen (Peter Ambrose 58mins).
Unused Substitutes: Ross Doohan, Jack MacKenzie, Jeppe Okkets.

Queen’s Park: Calum Ferrie (C), Zach Mauchin, Sean Welsh (Aiden McGinlay 86mins), Nikola Ujdur (Josh Hinds 57mins), Louis Longridge, Kyle Hurst (Roddy Macgregor 75mins), Will Tizzard, Zak Rudden, Jack Turner, Adam Devine (Jadan Raymond 46mins), Seb Drozd (Rocco Hickey-Fugaccia 75mins).
Unused Substitutes: Jack Wills, Reece Evans, Jay McGarva.

Referee: David Dickinson