ABERDEEN 2 DUNDEE 0

Monday 29 October 2012

It is too soon for Aberdeen to proclaim their renaissance is anywhere near completion given the propensity for ambition to be downgraded to mere wishful thinking in the vagaries of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.

Scott Vernon passed up a number of chances on Saturday, although Aberdeen were still able to win easily. Picture: SNS

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FRANK GILFEATHER

Yet, Craig Brown, the Aberdeen manager, has not only steadied the ship at Pittodrie, he has steered a course which has taken his side to a land they have not visited for many years – the upper echelons of the SPL.

Goals in either half by Niall McGinn, who scored his fifth of the season, and an own goal from Jim McAlister, secured the points against a Dundee side that only came to life in the final 15 minutes of a pleasing game for a home side eager to claim that Brown has effected a meaningful revival."That's the first quarter finished and we are in a good position," Gavin Rae, the Aberdeen midfielder said. "We just want to keep it going. We are happy with how it has gone, but we still feel we can improve and we'll keep our feet firmly on the ground."The squad is a lot stronger and we have got a formation that suits us. It has all come together."Indeed it has, thanks in part to the captivating form of Ryan Fraser, a fleet-footed winger with a licence to thrill, though given the number of chances he presented to McGinn and Scott Vernon in a dominant first half we must wonder how the scoreline remained so low."The wee man is a character," Rae said of Fraser. "He is academic but he's not the brightest when it comes to common sense. He's got a football brain, though. His performances have been excellent and he has come into the team without any bother at all. The formation helps him because he can keep attacking and he knows he has cover in the middle."Matt Lockwood, the Dundee left-back who experienced Fraser's ball skills first hand, recognised the parlous state in which his club finds itself; one game won and eight points adrift of St Mirren at the foot of the table."It is tough because every game we go into there is a recurring theme of us losing," he said. "It is not a nice habit to be in, but we can't moan about it; we just need to work hard in training."It's tough at the moment because we are picking up so many injuries. There are boys who will be out for a couple of months. It seems things go against you when you are at the bottom, no matter what division you are in."The fall from grace of Rangers just before the start of the season catapulted the ill-prepared Dens Park side into the top flight, but Barry Smith, their manager, is right to stress that positives, no matter how few, should be built on. Aberdeen, meanwhile, appear to have found their feet, if not their shooting boots. Had their dominance been converted into goals, the victory would have been immeasurably greater.

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ABERDEEN 2 DUNDEE 0

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