Hibernian 1 Aberdeen 1

Last updated : 29 July 2006 By Footymad Previewer
Hibs must wonder what they have to do to win a match for seldom will you see such a one-sided affair.

Hibs laid siege on the Dons goal for the opening half-hour, yet found themselves one goal down through a breakaway effort from Steve Crawford which was Aberdeen's only shot on goal in the entire 90 minutes.

As early as the second minute Dean Shiels squandered a great opportunity, glancing Scott Brown's cross wide from inside the six-yard box.

Shiels went close again when his shot was deflected over the bar and giant defender Rob Jones wasn't far away with a header.

A super throughball from Abdessalam Benjelloun then split the Aberdeen defence and Shiels' low drive was brilliantly saved by Jamie Langfield.

And the Dons keeper came to the rescue again seconds later with a smart save to deny Scott Brown.

But some really slack defending by Chris Hogg gave Crawford the chance to turn on the edge of the box and fire in a shot which took a wicked deflection off Jones on its way into the net.

It was tough luck on Hibs but poor finishing cost them again when Chris Killen volleyed over the bar from Michael Stewart's pass.

Substitute Paul Dalglish, on for the injured Benjelloun, created Hibs' leveller when he got to the by-line and clipped in a dangerous low cross.

Killen's initial effort was blocked but the rebound broke to Shiels who cracked home a vicious effort off the underside of the bar.

After the break Aberdeen were more competitive and a dangerous cross from Chris Clark caused panic in the Hibs defence when Simon Brown parried the ball but Steven Whittaker made a desperate clearance.

Scott Brown was denied a penalty when he was impeded by Michael Hart but it was Aberdeen who could have won the game when Darren Mackie picked up Jamie Smith's throughball and fired wide with only Simon Brown to beat.