Striking deficiency

Sunday 6 May 2012

KENNY Shiels is given to making the odd notable remark.

Aberdeen's Rory McArdle fights a lone battle against Kilmarnock trio Michael Nelson, Lewis Toshney and Ryan O'Leary Photograph: SNS

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Chris Tait

If it is not artists and soldiers it is something else, the Kilmarnock manager most recently proffering his side as the team of the season. It seems a grandiose claim for a club in the bottom six of the SPL, albeit one that lifted the Scottish Communities League Cup, but the sentiment behind it is easy enough to follow.

The Ayrshire side were expected to toil this season but instead have had a relatively successful campaign, even if their home draw with Aberdeen yesterday descended into something of an endurance exercise for those in the stands.It was perhaps not the way they would have preferred the last home match of the season to pan out – Kilmarnock are away to Dunfermline Athletic on the final day next weekend – with the aesthetes inside Rugby Park growing increasingly frustrated as the afternoon wore on.That may be a source of encouragement for Shiels, though, given that the fans have come to expect vibrant, effective play from his side, but there were still shortcomings which might serve to undermine the suggestion Kilmarnock have been up there with the best of them. For one thing, the team of the season should probably have a reliable strike force, and yesterday Kilmarnock lacked such a cutting edge.Admittedly, they were without top scorer Paul Heffernan, although that was hardly inhibitive as the Ayrshire side rattled four goals past Inverness Caledonian Thistle in his absence last weekend, but their smart, incisive movements were curtailed by profligacy against Aberdeen.Dean Shiels scored an equaliser in the second half – after 19-year-old Jamie Masson, making only his second start, had given the visitors the lead in the first. But his potency was diminished for the rest of the afternoon. The Kilmarnock midfielder burst into the penalty area after 34 minutes only to nudge a weak shot at Jason Brown, replicating a miss by James Fowler 10 minutes earlier.Both incidents were rebuked by supporters, a sound which has been directed at Aberdeen of late. Much of that has been down to an ineffective midfield. Passing moves are sometimes laboured and often predictable, so it perhaps should have been of little surprise that their goal came from an unexpected source. Scott Vernon was afforded enough time to have a couple of stabs at goal, one of which was deflected towards Jamie Masson.The midfielder, who had made his first senior start in a defeat by Hibernian on Wednesday night, planted a shot high into the net to give Aberdeen the lead after half an hour.Masson remained an eager presence on the left of midfield, but his inexperience meant his afternoon was restricted to the odd cameo, before injury forced him off after 75 minutes. "That's not his best position, he's actually a central midfield player – we have a team of central midfield players," said manager Craig Brown. "He does the job and can keep possession, and passes it well. He had two great passes to Ryan Jack."Aberdeen also suffered from a lack of service from the right. Gavin Rae, Kari Arnason and Jack all took shifts there but none of them gave their strikers much to feed on. Given that Vernon and Rory Fallon are both built for aerial battles that seemed a little incongruous. It is an issue which Brown would seem intent on resolving given his pursuit of Inverness winger Jonny Hayes.The visitors were able to fashion a few other chances of note. Josh Magennis's first-half shot struck the base of a post, Vernon had an effort ruled out for offside after an hour – "The boys who were warming up said it was the right decision," said Brown – and substitute Ryan Fraser spooned a late effort wide.Shiels ensured those spurned opportunities had an impact on the result, latching on to a through-ball from William Gros after 53 minutes to stroke in his 14th goal of the season."One of my players (Shiels) was acknowledged by the PFA which is fantastic," said Shiels Snr, who reiterated his desire to agree a new contract at the club. "What we've achieved this season has been partially acknowledged by some people, but in other quarters it hasn't been."When you're Kilmarnock, a provincial club, it's not a criticism it is just a natural thing. We haven't had one player of the month this season – that is quite amazing to be honest."

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