04/03/2025
Aberdeen FC 3 - 3 Shepherds Tuesday
Manichaeism was a founded as highly popular religion/philosophy 1750-ish years ago by people who believed it was only possible to regard former Portuguese international Maniche as very good, or very bad, with no ambiguity. But football must surely allow for some ambiguity, and nothing is wholly good (and the music of Bruno Mars is surely the only thing which is wholly bad).
Rejecting duality of being as a necessity, as Mav does when confronted with a h***y pair(?) of Siamese twins, reactions were mixed to the Dons most recent outing. Periods were unequivocally good, and periods were fairly unequivocally bad. But the whole was neither: it was flawed, certainly, but it was also certainly not wholly bad, like Maniche when forced to play centre back.
The game started on the only patch of grass on the pitch, and for the opening stanza it seemed that this was because teams saw no need to touch the ball in the middle of the park. Balls went long, and were generally dealt with fairly routinely. The Dons centre midfield of George, Kieran and Brad were comfortable, but often bypassed by an opposition who looked uncomfortable on the ball. The same could not necessarily be said of the Dons, but too often a succession of quick passes was followed by a hopeful punt. On the wings, Alfie and Will worked hard and looked dangerous when they had the ball to feet, but the Dons struggled to bring them into the game. Up top, Freddie's and Jack's pressing was making the opposition skittish, but the Shepherd's defence held firm and not sh*ttish (I've had quite a lot of rum).
Nietzsche observed that, "from chaos comes order'". But, as per the Romance of the Free Kingdoms" notes, "The Empire once United must divide, once United must divide".
Thus it was. From order in the first half came momentary, and unwelcome, arrival of chaos. A hopeful long Shepherd's punt down the wing was kept alive, the ball was (in a reverse eco-friendly move) recycled back into the box, and ultimately snuck it's way into the Dons' goal.
Galvanised, in a motivational, not chemical, sense, the Dons pushed forward. Yet, with half time looming, another long ball forward found Shepherds some space. The danger seemed dealt with, but an unfortunate bounce back into the box found the Shepherd's striker space to slot a shot into the net.
Nietzsche was, of course, a bit of a f***y. There was no chaos in the Dons order, yet greater order came with a brief half-time hiatus. Manager Maverick entered the field, whilst Kieran dropped into the defence as the team moved to a 4-4-2.
Immediately, the Dons started to press forward. On the few occasions Shepherds made it out of their half, they found their strikers outwitted and the ball collected by a Dons defence led by Luke and Kieran, whilst a (literally) crunching tackle by Eamon dissuaded any attempt at running play down the wings.
Yet a goal proved elusive, for all the initial pressure. Set pieces came, and kept leaving tantalising hints of what might have been.
Thus it was, but until manager Maverick set himself a line on a corner. Summoning the spirits of the Backstreet Boys, he eschewed their nominative determinism to curl the ball into the far top corner from a corner.
With a goal back, momentum was with the Dons, and they soon made it tell again.
Eric arrived in the box, following strong build-up play, and invoked effortless elan as he continually side-stepped the despairing lunges of desperate defenders before colly slotting home.
Having pulled level, the wind was figuratively in the Dons' back (though, in a literal sense it was blowing south-to-north, and across the pitch).
Converting pressure into yet another set piece opportunity, captain Brad stepped up. His wickedly inswing ball was simply beyond the capacity of the Shepherd's defence, and a desperate attempted headed clearance did nothing more than make the goal more aesthetic.
Having converted a 2-0 headwind into a 3-2 lead, the tail was understandably in the Dons' tail, and they pushed forward.
Yet matters proved not so simple; a rare Shepherd's foray forward saw the ball rebound into the Don's box; a refereeing mix-up saw a penalty ensue. The initial effort was saved, but the follow up nestled unfortunately in the net.
Aberdeen surged forward, but a winner was not to be found.
Would Maniche have made a difference? That's not for us to say.
Match report as always, by the brilliance of Wordsworth that is Callum.
Fancy playing for the Dandy Dons?
Call Manager Maverick on 07791730588
