Express & Star

Aberdeen 1 West Brom 1 - Report and pictures

Old friends Darren Moore and Derek McInnes shared the honours at Pittodrie tonight in a keenly-contested pre-season friendly.

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Sam Cosgrove of Aberdeen and Kyle Bartley (AMA)

Jake Livemore's 41st minute goal cancelled out Sam Cosgrove's opener five mintues after the Aberdeen striker had been given a free header in the box.

But the most encouraging this is, that with two weeks until the season starts, Albion are finally starting to look like a senior unit.

Kieran Gibbs, Ahmed Hegazi and Hal Robson-Kanu all returned, although Moore left Craig Dawson as his only unused substitute following the defender's antics in the summer.

Jay Rodriguez was Albion's brightest spark, but there is still uncertainty surround his future too.

It was also the first chance for Moore and the intrepid Albion fans who made the trip north to see new signings Kyle Bartley and Jonathan Bond.

Bartley was called into action after less than a minute when Sam Cosgrove outmuscled young Jack Fitzwater on the byline and burst towards goal, but Albion's new centre-back stood him up before blocking his shot.

The 27-year-old, who arrived from Swansea this week for £4m, was commanding in the air and comfortable on the ball.

Fitzwater had a shakier game, but fellow youngsters Sam Field and Kyle Edwards looked bright.

The pair of them combined with a neat one-two 18 minutes in that ended up with Edwards's shot being deflected behind.

Albion were controlling possession, and there was plenty of movement in midfield, but they struggled to create any gilt-edge chances.

And Aberdeen started to grow into proceedings more and more as the half wore on.

The crowd woke up when Scott Wright tried to chip Bond from the halfway line, but his shot sailed over the bar without troubling Albion's new keeper.

And then 10 minutes before the break, they broke the deadlock with a simple goal.

Cosgrove was the only Aberdeen man in the box but he was still given a free header, which he powered into Bond's far corner.

That sparked the Baggies into life, and they replied almost instantly thanks to some dazzling footwork from Rodriguez in the box.

The striker beat two men before squaring to Edwards, whose shot was well-saved by Joe Lewis before the ball fell kindly to Livermore, who rolled it in with nonchalance from six yards.

Moore made just three changes at half-time, taking off Bartley, Kieran Gibbs and Jake Livermore for youngsters Kane Wilson, Max Melbourne and Rekeem Harper.

Cranie nearly gifted the Dons a goal by losing possession in a dangerous area before Rodriguez burst down the wing and clipped in an inviting cross that just eluded Edwards.

McInnes and the home fans wanted a penalty when the ball struck a blue and white arm but referee William Collum gave nothing, while at the other end, Albion were tentatively probing but unable to get in behind.

It was only when Edwards drove forward in possession that they threatened down the middle.

Aberdeen looked most threatening themselves on the counter-attack but most of their balls forward were mopped up with relative ease.

Moore rang the changes in the second half, and while 18-year-old Rekeem Harper caught the eye, it wasn't until James Morrison came on that Albion started to zip the ball through the tight spaces of Aberdeen's stingy defence.

The game started to peter out, and with little goalmouth action to get excited about the crowd had to settle for a bit of handbags between Hal Robson-Kanu and Dons centre-back Scott McKenna.

The Wales international was determined to play the pantomime villain but his wind-up tactics weren't working.

The hosts tried to snatch a win three minutes before the end when captain Graeme Shinnie met a cross, but substitute keeper Alex Palmer palmed his effort away.

And that was that. There may still be work to do in the transfer market, but with a winger incoming and potentially a new centre-back too, Albion are beginning to look more prepared for the season ahead.

TEAMS

Aberdeen (4-1-4-1): Lewis, Logan, Shinnie (c), McKenna, Forrester (Campbell 77), Mackay-Steven, Wright (Anderson 80), Cosgrove (May 66), Devlin (Trialist 66), Ferguson (McLennan 88), Ball (Gleeson 77).

Unused subs: Craddock, Harrington, Roscoe, Antoniazzi.

Albion (4-2-3-1): Bond (Palmer 65); Cranie (Hegazi 70), Fitzwater, Bartley (Wilson 45), Gibbs (Melbourne 45); Field (Morrison 65), Livermore (Harper 45); Brunt (c) (Leko 70), Edwards, Phillips (Burke 65); Rodriguez (Robson-Kanu 65).

Unused subs: Dawson.

Referee: William Collum

GOALS

36' Sam Cosgrove - Aberdeen 1-0 WBA

41' Jake Livermore - Aberdeen 1-1 WBA