Kilmarnock 2-3 Aberdeen as Under 18’s lose out at Rugby Park

By Samuel Ukah

Aberdeen Under 18’s travelled to Rugby Park to face league leaders Kilmarnock in a top-of-the-table clash in the CAS Elite Under 18’s League.

Coming off a loss to Hibernian, Kilmarnock looked to return to winning ways, but second-placed Aberdeen would provide a tough test.

The game began brightly for the Dons as just nine minutes into the game a quick break saw Fletcher Boyd free on the right flank as he provided an excellent low-driven cross into Cammy Wilson who found the back of the net.

Kilmarnock did not back down however as they continuously knocked on the door for the large majority of the first half.

Cole Burke began to find pockets of space and test the hands of Rodrigo Vitolis. Killie almost equalised around the 24-minute mark in an eerily similar move to Aberdeen’s opener as nice interchanges were made to provide space on the right-hand side for a low cross across goal which was narrowly hit wide by the oncoming Marchant.

A controversial decision livened up the rest of the half as Cammy Wilson found himself one-on-one with Brown in the box, knocking the ball past him before going down and appealing for a penalty.

The referee decided otherwise which enraged the Aberdeen coaching staff. This was a huge let-off for Killie and a wake-up call going into the second period.

Half Time: Kilmarnock 0-1 Aberdeen

Kilmarnock, who would have hoped to come out flying in the second period, could not have asked for a worse start as almost straight from kick-off Aberdeen found themselves two goals to the good.

Fletcher Boyd who was the provider for the young Dons’ first, turned goal scorer for their second as he raced to a loose ball and slotted it home.

The home side kept pushing forward despite the setbacks. Their efforts were not in vain as Killie managed to grab one back with an astute header from Mackie following a Marchant corner.

Chris Burke’s side soon found the equaliser they were after with another set piece, this time it was captain Mersey with a delicious free-kick which whizzed into the top left corner seeing the league leaders back into the game with 15 to play.

An excellent comeback from the Ayrshire side was not enough to see all three points as Aberdeen dug deep and found a winning goal.

Cammy Wilson bagged his second of the afternoon as he followed in on a rebounded shot to see the young Dons secure the victory at Rugby Park.