Tosh relishes special delivery

Aberdeen 1 - 0 Dundee United

NOVEMBER 27, 2004: the day the Tosh family delivered. First it was Stefanie's turn as she provided a baby son, Jordan, fewer than five hours before his dad was due to play in the SPL. The last thing Steve told his new lad before leaving Aberdeen's Foresterhill Hospital was that he would try to score a goal for him - he laughed while admitting how corny that sounded - but Tosh lived up to his promise. His wonderful strike after 25 minutes provided a winner he deserved, even if it flattered his team.

There is no mystery attached to Aberdeen's lofty position in the SPL. This was the eighth league game they had won by a single goal. In previous seasons, under previous managers, United would have come away with at least a point yesterday but under Jimmy Calderwood little is given away. Cold weather, relentless rain and a defeat: Pittodrie is becoming miserable place for visitors again.

For Tosh it was the place which provided a gift for his son that no shop could rival. Calderwood had left it up to him whether to play and adrenaline did the rest, carrying him through the 62 minutes which allowed him to put on a match-winning display.

"He asked me to make my choice and I was always going to play. The result and the goal take second stage to what happened this morning ... but I'll celebrate both now."

It was a case of being haunted by a ghost from the past for Ian McCall. "A super strike from a guy I sold for (pounds) 30,000," said the United manager, recalling the time he let him leave Falkirk. "But I did get him for nothing."

For Aberdeen, as well as Tosh, the goal was worth an afternoon spent suffering in the rain-lashed stands.

It was largely of his own making but the move began when Darren Mackie picked him out with a searching cross-field pass. Tosh played a crisp pass into the inside left channel to Ricky Foster, whose movement simultaneously opened space into which Tosh could run. A return pass gave him an inviting angle and Tosh was a match for it, curling a lovely shot with the inside of his right boot which sailed across Paul Jarvie's goal and in at his top left-hand corner.

Aberdeen seemed prepared to absorb United's pressing - in this weather there was plenty for everyone to absorb - before flooding forward in numbers. There was a conviction in their initial approach which seemed appropriate for a team sitting loftily in the league table, but it would not last. Calderwood was pleased with the opening half hour which provided the goal before bemoaning the decline which would set in for the following hour. The evaporation of confidence will trouble him over the weekend.

After an unconvincing penalty claim for handball by Alan Archibald, Noel Whelan turned in the penalty area and rocketed a shot over the crossbar only for Hugh Dallas to correctly identify that he had used an arm to bring the ball under control. Aberdeen would not be denied for much longer and Tosh's finish had few rivals as the game's outstanding moment.

The greasy surface made life unpleasant for the players but it helped the match as a spectacle given the likelihood of a misjudgement or the ball squirting off a defender in any penalty box exchange.

Moments after James Grady threatened with a flashing header, Phil McGuire was inexplicably languid on the ball and had Derek McInnes successfully dispossessed him he would have been through on goal.

Neither goalkeeper was overworked. Paul Jarvie was able to watch a powerful Markus Heikkinen drive fly over his head and then Preece saved comfortably after McInnes had wriggled clear from a defender and unleashed a low drive from the edge of the area. Their captain's attempt was United's first threat of the game but it came at the beginning of a second half in which they would press Aberdeen and gradually ask some awkward questions of Calderwood's defence.

Barry Robson was yellow-carded for taking a dive in the penalty area - Tosh and Zander Diamond were incensed, jabbing accusatory fingers at him as he lay on the turf - but he later claimed the incident was neither a penalty or a dive: he had stumbled and should not have been booked.

He had words for coach Gordon Chisholm and McCall when he was substituted, too, but played the incident down after the match.

United capitalised on the fading quality of Aberdeen's passing as the game wore on. Had Grant Brebner been able to ram home a cutback from Jason Scotland with 11 minutes left United would have had the equaliser they deserved.

Instead the ball seemed fractionally too far behind him, he fell under a challenge, and United's last chance was gone. Had Steven Craig buried a late invitation from Mackie Aberdeen would have won this game 2-0.

United, without an away league win all season, are joint bottom while Aberdeen are within three points of their entire total for last season. None of which matters a jot to the Tosh household today.

Preece McNaughton Diamond McGuire Morrison Tosh Heikkinen Severin Foster Mackie Whelan Jarvie Duff McCracken Ritchie Archibald Wilson McInnes Brebner Robson Grady McIntyre Subs: Kerkar for Robson 62, Scotland for Grady 72, Samuel for Wilson 84.

Not used: Hirschfeld, Cameron, Gardiner, Innes.

Booked: Robson 53.

Subs: Craig for Tosh 62, Adams for Whelan 75.

Not used: Esson, Muirhead, Stewart, Pasquinelli, O'Leary.

Booked: Whelan 66, Adams 86, Foster 90.

Referee: H Dallas.

Attendance: 12,038.

FAST FOOTBALL Fair result? Ian McCall was entitled to his post- match complaints after this one. United contributed significantly to what was always a tight, balanced match. That neither keeper was called into a lot of action confirmed that it should have been a draw.

Entertainment value: Modest, but that was hardly the players' fault. In a day of incessant rain the conditions were horrible for teams and spectators alike. Steve Tosh's lovely winner was heartwarming for the Aberdeen fans, but it was a bleak old day for the United supporters.

Talking point: Steve Tosh's wife gave birth to a son, Jordan, at 10.10am. Just over five hours later he scored a magnificent winning goal.

Man of the match: Take a guess.

Jimmy Calderwood: "It was a magnificent goal, great for Stevie. After that I thought we stopped playing. We went from bad to worse. I don't think we deserved to lose but United were very unlucky not to take something from it. I am not taking anything away from Dundee United, they played well, but that's the worst 45 minutes we have played this season."

Ian McCall: "I think the very least we deserved was a point. I think we played ever so well. Anyone watching the play would say we were the team playing with confidence, not Aberdeen."

Copyright 2004 SMG Sunday Newspapers Ltd.
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