ABERDEEN ran amok in this Europa League first round qualifier with their Wales international Ryan Hedges, on for only the second half, firing home a hat-trick as the hosts wiped away any thoughts their opponents, Faroese NSI Runavik, might test them.

Given the stakes and the need for Aberdeen to supplement their diminishing funds – they’re said to be leaking £1m a month - due to Covid-19, their players were under clear instructions not to believe their opponents would be pushovers on the basis they plied their trade in an inferior league.

In the end, pushovers was precisely what they were as Aberdeen skipped into the second qualifying round of the competition without breaking sweat.

But, while the early sharpness and movement from the visitors underlined their desire to produce a special performance, they must have wondered, even in the sparring stages, how they would cope with snappy, slick-passing opponents, keen to run riot on the night.

The hosts, without centre-back Ash Taylor and with Ryan Hedges, a starter in Sunday’s win over Livingston, on the bench, gave Dylan McGeouch a midfield berth and asked Curtis Main to lead the line.

Runavik showed little sign of being fazed, however, even when Scott Wright broke into the area early on before watching his strike whistle over the bar from 12 yards.

Yet, it was a warning. Aberdeen’s energy and quickness on and off the ball posed questions for the men who hammered Barry Town 5-1 to reach this stage.

The principal query centred-on whether their fitness would hold up, especially with Matty Kennedy and Jonny Hayes testing their defence with high-tempo runs down the flanks.

But, it was from the left foot of full-back Andy Considine, back from suspension, that the opener was provided in the 36th minute.

His delightful chip into Runavik’s six-yard box found the head of Lewis Ferguson and as the ball glanced past goalkeeper Tordur Thomsen, it dropped across the line.

The lead was not unexpected. The Pittodrie side’s energy was by then stretching Runavik’s defence and when Wright sped into their area and fired a low ball across goal two minutes before the break, Main was unmarked at the far post and tapped it home.

Glenn Stahl, their Swedish manager, made his views known, with Thomsen bearing the brunt of his loud criticism from the dugout.

The goalkeeper, perhaps benefiting from a more positive message from his boss during the interval, redeemed himself seconds into the second half with a glorious save from Wright but his happiness was short-lived and although he was equally acrobatic in stopping a ferocious Hayes shot in the 50th minute, he could only guide the ball into the path of Hedges, on for Main in phase two of this tie, and it was goal number three for the Dons. Stahl remained silent.

Hedges made himself available on the edge of the Runavik area just before the hour as he accepted Wright’s pass and with his second touch, he drilled the ball home to demoralise the team from the Faroe Islands, now reeling under a constant Aberdeen onslaught.

It too the Reds just four minutes to make it 5-0 and this time it was Hayes who grabbed the glory with an eye-catching effort as he looped the ball over the Runavik keeper and into the net as we wondered if the Dons might show a little mercy.

They had little choice three minutes from the end as Ferguson was fouled in the area and while he would normally have taken the penalty kick awarded to the Dons, he allowed Hedges to claim his hat-trick and end a good night for the Pittodrie team.