Aberdeen’s long wait for a win is over as Christian Ramirez struck the only goal of the game to give the Dons their first win in 11 matches against Hibernian.
A miserable run of five straight defeats had resulted in the pressure building on manager Stephen Glass and his players but the Dons dug deep to grind out a vital win in a hard fought encounter against the Hibees at Pittodrie.
It was far from pretty as Aberdeen lost two defenders to injury in the first half but Glass will be thrilled to celebrate a victory following a challenging run of results.
Jack Mackenzie missed out for the Dons after suffering an ankle injury in training on Thursday. The left back will see a specialist on Monday to ascertain the severity of the injury.
Mackenzie was one of the three changes made by Dons boss Stephen Glass for the game with Jonny Hayes and goalkeeper Gary Woods dropping to the bench from the side which lost 2-1 to Dundee at Dens Park.
Club captain Joe Lewis returned in goal while Ross McCrorie replaced Mackenzie at left back and Marley Watkins returned to the starting line-up.
Given the Dons came into this game on the back of five straight defeats it was no surprise to see them start the match in cautious fashion.
Visitors Hibs, who had suffered back to back losses, were equally reticent and it took until the 15th minute before either goalkeeper was tested.
It was Matt Macey who was called into the action as he parried a deflected Ryan Hedges effort before the visitors cleared the danger.
The Hedges chance was the only incident of note in a low-key opening but the game burst into life as the Dons opened the scoring in the 27th minute.
The early play may have been ragged but the goal was one of quality as Scott Brown won the ball in midfield before playing the ball out wide to Calvin Ramsay. The right back’s cross found Christian Ramirez who fired a terrific first-time effort low past Macey from 14 yards.
The goal came at a cost, however, as Ramsay was forced off after suffering an injury in the build-up to the opener with Hayes replacing him.
Hibs had been so poor but they did come close to an equaliser as Martin Boyle saw his deflected effort flash just wide before the home side was forced into another reshuffle after Declan Gallagher was also forced off due to injury while making a clearance.
It meant another reshuffle for the Aberdeen backline as they reached the break with a back four of Funso Ojo, David Bates, Brown and McCrorie.
The Dons switched to a back three for the second half with Scott Brown deployed as a sweeper and the home side faced intense pressure from the visitors as they looked to force an equaliser.
For all the visitors’ pressure, however, Lewis did not have a save to make with the biggest threat for the Dons goalkeeper coming from a collision with team-mate McCrorie but he was able to continue following a lengthy stoppage.
The long break in play resulted in seven minutes of stoppage time being needed but Aberdeen stood firm to secure victory with Hibernian’s misery compounded by the dismissal of Darren McGregor in the final minute of injury time for an off the ball collision in the box with Bates.