Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Callum Hendry goal sees Aberdeen end goal drought in Kilmarnock win

Aberdeen's Callum Hendry is congratulated by Florian Kamberi.
Aberdeen's Callum Hendry is congratulated by Florian Kamberi.

Aberdeen stopped their recent rot with a gritty-if-uninspiring 1-0 win over Kilmarnock at Pittodrie.

Callum Hendry’s first goal for the club – which came from his first touch – decided the game in the Dons’ favour, on an otherwise dreary afternoon.

With Hibernian beating Hamilton Accies, it at least ensured Derek McInnes’ side lost no further ground in the push for third place.

However, there is still room for improvement, with Aberdeen allowing Kilmarnock back into the game in the second period.

Callum Hendry heads in Aberdeen’s first goal in seven games.

The Dons made two changes from the defeat at Parkhead, with Connor McLennan and Niall McGinn in for Matty Kennedy and the injured Jonny Hayes.

Without a win and a goal in six games prior to Saturday afternoon, the onus was on Derek McInnes’ side to finally deliver an end to their dreary run of form.

Lewis Ferguson remains their top scorer this season and it was he who had the first chance of the game. Ash Taylor’s pass into Fraser Hornby was flicked on by the Scotland under-21 striker into Ferguson’s path, with Colin Doyle beating away his shot at the near post.

Hornby’s inauspicious Aberdeen career took another twist, injuring himself shooting wide, with Hendry brought on to replace him after 20 minutes.

After 574 minutes, Hendry was the man to finally end the streak. McGinn’s free-kick from the right picked out Hendry – signed by Killie boss Tommy Wright for St Johnstone – and his header flew back across goal to bring the drought to an end.

Aberdeen were by no means any more fluid or incisive in their build-up play, with Lewis Ferguson often driving into space in the final third but then having limited options to pass to. Their preferred route to goal continues to be a more direct one, which perhaps does not suit the personnel they have.

They restricted Killie to few opportunities, to their credit, with Nicke Kabamba blocked off by Joe Lewis in their sole chance.

Kabamba was guilty of wasting a chance to level five minutes into the second half, neither shooting nor cutting back for Ethan Pinnock as he sent the ball trundling harmlessly wide of goal. An ambitious strike from Pinnock was then beaten away by Lewis and cleared by the Dons defence.

The first bit of decent link-up play came via Ferguson and Florian Kamberi, with the former collecting his team-mate’s return pass and sending a left-footed effort narrowly wide of goal.

Aberdeen striker Fraser Hornby limps off injured.

Wright’s men were delivering plenty of crosses into the box but all were easily claimed by Lewis, as their own barren run in front of goal extended to five games and they dropped an eighth defeat in a row.

There was time for Ross McCrorie to cannon an effort off the frame of the goal but Aberdeen held firm for a much-needed three points.