Dons begin season in usual manner
Published:
For the fifth season in a row Aberdeen sprung out of the blocks and promptly fell flat on their face.
Not even the appearance of Caley Thistle on the opening day could prevent the Dons from their annual humiliation.
There must have been some sighs of relief when the much-maligned SFA fixtures computer handed Aberdeen a curtain-raiser against the Highlands club.
After all, the Caley Jags had never beaten the Dons in 17 attempts and have been tipped by most pundits for a season of toil and trouble.
How wrong could they be.
Caley Thistle were disciplined, organised and, unlike Aberdeen, a constant threat.
Craig Brewster's men seemed to take massive enjoyment in sticking two fingers up at their critics and, if they can replicate this performance every week, their SPL future will be secure.
Aberdeen, on the other hand, are back to the drawing board once again.
Much depends on the form of their talisman Jamie Smith, and the worry is if he has an off day, as he did on Saturday, the Dons cease to be an attacking force.
Smith was trying to do too much and eventually it cost the home side.
It was Smith who got caught in possession in the build up to the opening goal. When he should have been opening doors in the final third, instead he was pick-pocketed 35 yards from his own goal. Smith is class but even Lionel Messi cannot unlock a back four from 75 yards away.
The Dons have Mark Kerr and Gary McDonald to fetch and carry, they should be picking out Smith rather than the other way round.
Instead, Smith lost possession, the ball was worked out wide to Dougie Imrie and then Ross Tokely and the ball was whipped across the six-yard line for Andy Barrowman to cap his competitive debut with a predatory goal after 27 minutes.
Much was made of whether Barrowman, a prolific lower league goal scorer with Ross County, could make the step up to the top tier.
On this evidence he will cope just fine and his perpetual motion was in stark contrast to former Caley Thistle attacker Marius Niculae, who barely threatened to break sweat in his time in the Highlands.
The Dons could not say they had not been warned. Tokely may resemble a nightclub doorman, but he is more than decent as a marauding full back.
He got down the right touchline on at least four occasions before the goal, throwing over dangerous crosses which had the Dons defence in all kinds of panic.
Charlie Mulgrew, on his competitive debut, was left two against one for much of the first half and will want to forget this one in a hurry.
Moments before the goal Scott Severin, who was playing centre back alongside Andrew Considine, who was chosen ahead of Zander Diamond after impressing in pre-season, had to head out from his own six-yard box and then hurl himself to block Roy McBain's goal-bound drive.
Until that point the Dons looked fairly comfortable. Lee Miller and Chris Maguire were causing problems and it all looked rather positive.
Once the goal went in it was a different story.
Aberdeen huffed and puffed for long spells, barely threatening Michael Fraser's goal and, instead, it was the Caley Jags who were the far more incisive.
The impressive McBain had the ball in the net after the interval but Barrowman was ruled offside and then Imrie was through on goal only to fire over after the Aberdeen goalkeeper Jamie Langfield hashed a backpass.
The natives were more than restless and a crescendo of boos had greeted the half-time whistle. That was nothing compared to what was to follow when McBain sealed the win in the final minute.
It came from Aberdeen's corner kick. Inverness swept clear, Barrowman found Imrie and he played the ball into the path of McBain, who had ran 50 yards to meet the ball before hammering it past Langfield.
The Aberdeen supporters streamed for the exits, ruing yet another false start to the SPL.
