Aberdeen 2 Dundee 0: Fraser's slice of good fortune ensures a cakewalk

Sunday 28 October 2012

Ryan Fraser's day started with a piece of good fortune and it continued through 90 minutes of exuberance and energy that left Dundee dazzled by his pace and ability to entertain as Aberdeen stretched their unbeaten run to 12 games and left the Dens Park side where they don't want to be.

Jonny Hayes, left, after scoring the second goal for Aberdeen Photograph: SNS

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Frank Gilfeather

The little winger, always prepared to put the visitors' defence on the back foot and provide a plethora of opportunities for strikers Scott Vernon and Nial McGinn, lost his wallet in the Aberdeen snow on Friday night and spent four hours searching for it in vain."I felt sick," he said, "and gave up on it until I went out for my dad's newspaper and, with the snow by then thawed, I found the wallet with everything – driver's licence and money – still there."

Perhaps it was such luck that helped spur the 18-year-old to another scintillating display, although one that should have produced more goals for the home side considering the way they pummelled and prodded Dundee for lengthy spells.The Aberdeen support could be forgiven for feeling entitled to a better return, but manager Craig Brown brushed aside such concerns. "We're getting greedy if we're looking for more goals," he said. "If you'd said to me before the match that you'd win 2-0 against a team I think are fighting very well I'd have been pleased."Dundee were unchanged despite their collapse against Inverness Caledonian Thistle the previous Friday. The unavailability of David Grassi and Mark Kerr because of injury exacerbated the difficulties faced by manager Barry Smith.And his troubles increased as early as the fourth minute to wait when Brian Easton's chase of Fraser resulted in the Dundee full-back pulling-up injured before being replaced by Matt Lockwood.Fraser's enterprise and willingness to attack were brought into sharp focus in the 14th minute as his low ball across goal was dummied by Vernon, aware that McGinn was on a run behind him. The Northern Ireland international's shot from 12 yards gave Dundee goalkeeper Rab Douglas no hope.Dundee were left to hope for something tangible from a counter attack, though with Colin Nish as their sole front man, only a disastrous error would have made that possible. Fraser continued to demand the attention of their defenders, switching from one wing to the other and forcing Gary Irvine and Iain Davidson in clumsy challenges which brought them yellow cards in the first half.It could be argued that referee Calum Murray should have issued further bookings to these players for similarly robust tackles in the second half, but he chose not to.Aberdeen's dominance cannot be understated. Yet, their failure to test Douglas raised questions. Shots from McGinn and Fraser were off target while Vernon, their principal striker, was out of touch, and it took a bizarre free- kick from Jonny Hayes in the 73rd minute to settle matters.The Irishman, a replacement for Chris Clark after an hour, fired in his strike from a difficult angle and the ball somehow managed to evade several pairs of legs before deflecting off Jim McAlister and beating Douglas.Ironically, this pre-empted Dundee's best spell and they might have had a consolation goal had Josh Magennis not blocked Davidson's strike and Ryan Conroy not scooped the return ball over from 10 yards."There are positives to take from the second half," said Smith, "There is no crisis. There are plenty of points to play for. We have a good group and they are ready to go out and fight."

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Aberdeen 2 Dundee 0: Fraser's slice of good fortune ensures a cakewalk

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