Aberdeen 0-2 Hamilton: Dons stunned at home as Oakley and Miller earn vital Accies win

It was their first at the venue after eight straight defeats since Derek McInnes took charge of Aberdeen on a night when they doubled the number of goals scored in those previous fruitless trips to the Granite City. Quality goals at that with George Oakley opening the scoring with a strike that stired memories of one of the all-time classics while Mickel Miller was rewarded for an impressive performance with a well worked second. That, along with the result at Ibrox, moves the Lanarkshire side out of the bottom two as they go three points clear of Dundee while Aberdeen’s hopes of the fifth successive second place finish have suffered a serious blow. They now trail Rangers by eight points and the cause isn’t hard to find as a team who seem untouchable on the road right now have won just once in their last seven matches at home. That’s hardly the form manager Derek McInnes would want to take into what is shaping-up to be a season defining Scottish Cup quarter final against Rangers at Pittodrie on Sunday and an injury that forced off Max Lowe early in the game won’t have brightened his mood. Given their miserable record at Pittodrie in recent years it was sensible for Rice and his Hamilton players to treat this as a free hit in their attempt to defy the odds by surviving for yet another season in the Premiership. Any thought of sitting in and hitting on the counterattack was abandoned for a more adventurous approach that clearly rattled an Aberdeen team who have been struggling for form in front of their own supporters. The pace and directness of Miller allied to the physicality of Oakley clearly unnerved the home side for long spells of the first half when they were forced to defend more desperately than they would have expected prior to kick-off. Andrew Considine was so unsettled by Miller that he earned an early yellow card for a crude foul on someone who played his football for Carshalton Athletic in the Isthmian League before moving to New Douglas Park last summer. However that was nothing compared to how bamboozled the Aberdeen defender felt when Oakley scored the opening goal in 34 minutes, although he wasn’t exactly alone in that respect as everyone at Pittodrie was stunned by the quality of the strike. It’s not every day that the Accies striker can be compared to Marco van Basten but this was the exception as Oakley got the better of Considine near the byeline before hitting an acute angle looping shot that dipped in-off the inside of the far post, reminiscent of the Dutch legend’s in Holland’s Euro ‘88 win against the Soviet Union. Unfortunately there were only 36 hardy Hamilton supporters in the ground to witness it in person and even then they didn’t have long to savour it as Aberdeen suddenly woke-up to the challenge and pushed forward in numbers in an attempt to salvage the situation. They certainly had the chances to level things up either side of the interval but Greg Stewart’s glancing header from Niall McGinn’s cross spun clear off a post while Sam Cosgrove’s luck was out on no fewer than three occasions. He fired one shot narrowly over the bar, saw a header from another astute Stewart cross brilliantly saved by Gary Woods when it looked in all the way, then was denied by Delphin Tshiembe’s goal line clearance as the pressure intensified. Dominic Ball clipped an effort off the top of the crossbar while Graeme Shinnie got too much elevation on an attempt to add to his two match winning goals at Perth last Saturday, making it all the more galling for the Aberdeen captain when his carelessness led to a stunning second Hamilton goal. Shinnie surrendered possession in his own half and while Miller failed to take instant advantage the ball was worked back into his path via first Oakley and the overlapping Lenny Sowah, allowing the striker a sweet side-foot finish. That was all the more impressive as they did it just after losing their inspirational captain Darian McKinnon to injury just minutes earlier with veteran midfielder Dougie Imrie taking over and providing exactly the sort of aggressive inspiration needed to try and see it out. They might not have started the night defending in depth as though their lives depended on it but that is how they were forced to finish it as Aberdeen kept throwing bodies forward in an increasingly desperate attempt to rescue something from the game. It became a virtual attack-against-defence exercise but the team who conceded five goals at home to Rangers just three days ago never looked like crumbling late on the way they had so frequently when Canning was in charge.