ABERDEEN qualified for the first round of the UEFA Cup, but they were given the fright of their lives by the club from the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, before booking their place in Friday's draw.
Zalgiris were trailing 4-1 from the first leg on their own ground a fortnight ago and only arrived in Aberdeen in the early hours of yesterday morning, following a grueling 12 hour coach trip from London. However, it was Aberdeen that looked tired last night.
The visitors would have been comfortably ahead by the interval if they had not shown a tendency to over elaborate in front of goal against an Aberdeen side missing the influence of the injured Stewart McKimmie. Paul Bernard and Scott Booth. It was no surprise when Grhzvydas Mikulenas shot Zalgiris into a 53rd minute lead.
Aberdeen did look more urgent in their attacking play in the second half, but captain Brian Irvine blundered badly in the 76th minute, fouling Mikulenas in the penalty area. Puklevicius stepped up to drill home the resulting spot kick.
Irvine made amends by seemingly putting the tie beyond doubt with just five minutes to go, sending a soaring header into the top corner of the net from a Joe Miller corner.
But Vilnius were not finished. Mikulenas went straight up the other end of the field to hammer in another cracking drive from the edge of the penalty area. Try as they might, though, the Lithuanians could not get the extra goal which would have taken the tie into extra time.
