As draws go, this felt more like a defeat than most.
Partly due to how the match unfolded – points should probably never be spilled from two goals up against ten players – and partly because of the speedy descent from the false security of a momentary 3-1 lead to the all too final registering of the game’s fourth goal at the other end instead.
But mostly for the gravity of what was lost in that moment. As the clock ticked past the five minutes of advertised stoppage time, the Dons were poised to return to the crucial third place in the Premiership table; seconds later they were dumped down to fifth and the back of the European queue.
It may yet be that whichever team collects the most points in the three post-split matches between Aberdeen, Hibs and Dundee United emerges highest in the standings, but in failing to see this through to the whistle the Dons have picked up a handicap for the season’s last lap. Though its weight is not terribly large, it may turn out to be very significant with the gaps so narrow.
Still, after their puzzling mid-season collapse, it is no small thing that Aberdeen approach these key games having lost only one of their last ten.
It gives them a punchers’ chance, even if their rivals – one churning out three gritty 1-0 wins in a row, the other having lost to nobody but Celtic since November – are bringing extremely solid chins.
If there is to be Rocky-style drama in the season’s final month then, as things stand, others currently seem more obviously equipped to deliver it, which might instinctively feel like a disappointment given how it all began.
On the whole, though, Aberdeen have arrived at the split in much better shape than last year.
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