Aberdeen v Hearts in the Scottish Cup

There have been some cracking Scottish Cup ties between Aberdeen and Heart of Midlothian down the years.

The RedMatchday team this week will be looking back in more detail at some of these famous fixtures in the history of both clubs. We start our countdown to Saturday evening with a brief summary of the Aberdeen v Hearts Scottish Cup story so far….

Aberdeen were some 93 years in existence before they were beaten by Hearts in a Scottish Cup game. In nine previous matches it was Aberdeen that prevailed on each occasion. Of all 12 previous Scottish Cup ties between the sides, Aberdeen have only lost twice, in 1996 and again in 2006. Twice the sides have drawn which forced a replay so the overall record stands at W8 D2 L2.

The Dons first meeting with the Tynecastle club came at Pittodrie in 1920 and in what was the first season of football after the end of World War I, a classic Jock Hutton pile-driver put Aberdeen through to a meeting with Albion Rovers.

Some 30 years later when both Aberdeen and Hearts were about to make their mark in the game, it was the Dons who held the upper hand over the Tynecastle side with four Scottish Cup ties and Aberdeen emerging unscathed. Despite the heralded ‘Terrible Trio’ of Conn, Bauld and Wardhaugh, they could not do anything against the Dons, whose own Allister, Young and Glen prevailed.

Aberdeen reached the final in both 1954 and again a year later and Hearts were beaten in both seasons.
In March 1954 a rampant Aberdeen won 3-0 in a display of pace and power that had Hearts outclassed in front of what was the highest ever Pittodrie attendance of 45,061.

A year later Hearts again returned to Pittodrie for a replay and the visitors adopted a physical approach in a bid to stop the Aberdeen juggernaut. A Jackie Allister goal at Tynecastle had given Aberdeen a draw and a replay at Aberdeen. Goals from Harry Yorston and Paddy Buckley put Aberdeen through to a semi final clash with Clyde.

The most famous meeting between the pair came in 1986 when the sides met in the Scottish Cup final. The Dons defeated Hearts 3-0 that day with a comfortable win after John Hewitt had given the reds an early lead. Hearts a week earlier had been on the brink of an historic cup double but the Geogie side cruelly lost the league title in the final minutes at Dens Park and at Hampden an experienced Dons side added to their agony.  Hearts never got into the game and in the second half Hewitt added a second before Billy Stark completed the rout to hand Sir Alex Ferguson his last trophy as Aberdeen manager. We will have a look back more closely at this game later in the week.

Four years later the sides met once again, this time at the quarter final stage in 1990, the last time the Dons won the cup. At Pittodrie a full house witnessed a demolition of the much hyped Hearts defence with Craig Levein getting the run-around from Hans Gillhaus and Charlie Nicholas. As Scotland prepared for the World Cup in Italy, doubts were cast as to the strength of the defence which included the Hearts dup of McPherson and Levein. However it was not that often they would be faced with the quality of the Aberdeen front line back then. We will also have a look back at this game in more detail.

In 1996 Hearts won a dramatic semi final at Hampden. Duncan Shearer scored a late equaliser for the Dons and it looked as if he had done enough to force a replay but with the final touch of the game John Robertson bundled the ball over the line past Michael Watt to give the Edinburgh side the victory and Jim Jeffries men went on to beat Rangers in the final.

Then in 2006 Hearts won a controversial match at Tynecastle. Four minutes after Hearts had taken the lead against the run of play current Hearts assistant manager Stevie Crawford was clearly pulled back by Andy Webster as he went to shoot. A stone wall penalty and the Hearts player would have to walk but referee Kenny Clark missed the incident then at the other end Diamond tripped Pospisil outside the area but Clark gave a penalty and dismissed Diamond prompting furious senses at the tunnel at half time. The ten men Dons had no way of preventing an easy win for the Edinburgh side in the second half.

The last meeting between the sides came in a 4th round tie at Pittodrie in 2010. Second half goals from Darren Mackie and Lee Miller gave Mark McGhee’s team a deserved and comfortable win despite the fact the Dons were struggling at the time. Darren Mackie had a header brilliantly saved by Hearts goalkeeper Marian Kello as the Dons enjoyed the best of the first-half chances. But Mackie, with his first goal of the season, broke the deadlock on the hour mark with a close-range finish. Hearts rarely threatened throughout and Lee Miller made sure of Aberdeen's victory with just under 15 minutes remaining.

For the record the Dons line up that day six years ago was: Langfield, Maurice Ross, Ifil, Mulgrew, Pawlett, Young, Kerr, Marshall (Maguire 68), Fyvie, Mackie, Miller. Subs Not Used: Nelson, Paton, Crawford, Jack.
 
the complete record