After two fitful domestic seasons returned the sum total tangible product of one assist against Bonnyrigg Rose, here’s a sentence you wouldn’t have much expected to read.
When Aberdeen’s breakthrough finally came on Saturday, it was almost inevitable that it was fashioned by Shayden Morris.
Persistence is a quality Morris has had to display throughout a peculiar Pittodrie tenure.
He has been locked in a dizzying cycle of being each new manager’s original first choice before plummeting down the depth chart, then knuckling down to create another good first impression each time the coach changed.
And persistence here saw Morris eventually find the crack in County’s defence. Having already, in his brief appearance, exploited the exact same move to extract two corners and a tantalisingly unconverted back-post cross, when he whizzed to the line and smartly pulled back to his lurking teammates it was fourth time lucky.
The tactic itself was simple – shift the ball mid-step outside the defender and sprint around him – and time will tell if it sees such success against opponents other than the frazzled George Harmon, who offered no resistance in their personal battle.
But perhaps simplicity is what Morris needs right now. After his sacrifice at right-back brought his last league campaign to a potentially ruinous end on Valentine’s Day, nailing him to the touchline in the final third and trusting him to do his thing is to show Morris the love his performances are starting to requite.
His burst of acceleration makes Morris the last man a tiring full-back would want to see after 70 minutes tracking Topi Keskinen.
Still only 22, there is time for Morris to find a role at Aberdeen; if, as a situational closer when circumstances demand, he has a niche, it is the best foundation he has had yet.
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