St Mirren survived the sending-off of David Barron to secure a spirited 1-1 draw at Pittodrie and dent Aberdeen's hopes of finishing in the top six of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.
The visitors broke the deadlock in the 10th minute when Andy Dorman confidently flicked the ball over Lee Mair prior to coolly firing a volley past Derek Soutar in the Aberdeen goal.
The Dons equaliser arrived when Mair headed in from Barry Nicholson's corner just before the half-hour mark and although St Mirren were reduced to 10 men with 13 minutes remaining after Barron received two cautions in quick succession, Aberdeen never looked like finding a winning goal.
Story continues below...
Aberdeen were looking to build on their superb Scottish Cup victory at Celtic during the week, but inconsistency has been a trademark of the Dons' season to date
Therefore, perhaps it was no surprise that having defended so resolutely at in recording a clean sheet Parkhead during the week, Aberdeen conceded an early goal to St Mirren.
It was a piece of wonderful individual skill from Dorman that broke the deadlock at Pittodrie, as the midfielder controlled a flick on by Jim Hamilton to deceive Mair and score with aplomb.
Aberdeen's immediate response to the concession of that goal was fairly mooted, with Lee Miller failing to successfully control a cross from Alan Maybury when located in a promising attacking position.
Chris Maguire then gave visiting goalkeeper Chris Smith his first serious test of the afternoon courtesy of a low 25-yard-drive which was well saved.
Smith was soon called into action again, this time to stop a powerful shot from distance by Scott Severin, as Aberdeen struggled to get in behind St Mirren's stubborn backline.
Nevertheless, an equaliser arrived in the 29th minute and it came in the simplest of circumstances.
Nicholson delivered a pinpoint corner into the St Mirren penalty area and Mair met the ball with a firm header to find the back of the net with the minimum of fuss.
St Mirren were forced into making a substitution not long before the half-time interval when Billy Mehmet, who suffered a leg injury during a tackle with Scott Severin, had to be replaced by Stewart Kean.
The substitute had a chance to make his mark not long following the restart, but sliced carelessly wide having been set-up by a neat pass from Dorman.
Despite lacking inspiration Aberdeen were certainly attempting to press forward and for the first time in the game Nicholson had a good sight of goal, only to shoot harmlessly over from 18-yards-out.
Maybury then took the lead with a surging run towards St Mirren's penalty area, but the former Hearts player saw a deflection take the sting out of his drive and Smith made an easy catch.
The Buddies hopes of taking something from the match were hampered when Barron received two cautions in the space of three minutes, the first for a foul on Miller, the second following a touchline skirmish with Severin.
However, even with their numerical disadvantage, St Mirren came close to scoring as Kean connected with a cross from Franco Miranda to draw a great save from Soutar.
Aberdeen piled on the pressure late on, but Smith was quick off his line to deny Nicholson, while any hopes of victory for the hosts disappeared when Josh Walker's cross bounced off the chest of Severin and into the grateful arms of the St Mirren goalkeeper.
A GUARANTEED PROFIT OF AT LEAST £36.50 ON SOUTHEND v DONCASTER
Did you know that it is possible to win money on Friday evening's League One Play-Off clash between Southend and Doncaster, whatever the result?
The game kicks off at 7.45pm and we can guarantee you a profit of at least £36.50, whatever the result of the match. All you have to do is follow the simple instructions below and then sit back and enjoy the game. At full-time, you will be at least £36.50 better off, whatever the result of the match.
We must point out that if you want to take this bet, you should do it now because if the odds change, then the figures here will be invalidated. If they have changed, let us know and we will rework the bet for you.
You can still do this if you have a Betfair account but your overall profit will be reduced by £25.00 as you won't receive the £25.00 cashback as an existing account holder.
If you are unsure about this bet, you are most welcome to call us on 01642 223229 and we will help you as much as we can.
We're going to lay out a total of £71.00 on the Southend v Doncaster match and we will collect £107.50 if Doncaster win, £107.50 if Southend win and £107.81 if it's a draw. That's a minimum profit of 51%, a much higher interest rate than you will get in any high street bank.
Here's how it's done. Just follow these simple instructions.
1. Open an account with Coral. It is really important that you enter the bonus code of CORALTD when prompted. This is to ensure that you receive your bonus.
Open an account with Betfair. It is really important that you enter the promotional code of BFB425 when prompted. This is to ensure that you receive your bonus.
Place £20.00 on Doncaster at 2.75 (7/4) with Coral.
Coral will now add a £10.00 bonus to your account. Place this on Doncaster as well. You will now have £30.00 riding on Doncaster.
Back the draw with £26.00 at 3.3 (9/4) (or higher if available) with Betfair.
Place £25.00 on Southend at 2.15 (23/20) with Extrabet.
Extrabet match your first bet up to £25 so you will now have £50.00 riding on Southend.
The £25.00 matched bet will not show in your account but you can read all about how it works on the Extrabet site. It's the purple box that says '£25 FREE BET FOR NEW CUSTOMERS' on the top right hand side. Click here to visit the Extrabet site.
If you are unsure about placing these bets, please feel free to mail us or call us on 01642 223229 and we will talk you through it, no problem at all. There is no such thing as a stupid question.
You have temporarily laid out a total of £71.00 on the Southend v Doncaster match. I stress, temporarily... Now sit back, crack a beer open and enjoy the match.
4. Here's what happens at the end of the game.
If Doncaster win, you collect £107.50. That's £82.50 from Coral plus a £25.00 cashback from Betfair.
If it's a draw, you collect £107.81. That's £82.81 from Betfair plus a £25.00 cashback from Betfair.
If Southend win you collect £107.50. That's £82.50 from Extrabet plus a £25.00 cashback from Betfair.
5. This means that the worst case scenario on the Southend v Doncaster match is no draw and you make £36.50 profit. However, if it is a draw you make £36.81. That's a minimum profit of 51%, a much better rate of interest that you would get at any high street bank or building society.
6. It is absolutely vital that you click on the links on this page to open the accounts with the two bookies and enter the correct bonus codes or you may not qualify for the bonuses.
Also, before you place your bets, you should check that the odds haven't changed. If they have, let us know by mail or phone us on 01642 223229 and we will rework the bet for you.
Please feel free to contact us or phone us on 01642 223229 if you have any questions at all about this bet and we will help you as much as we can.
Please note that the bonuses are valid for new customers only so if you already have an account with one or more of the bookies we are using, you won't be able to do this. If that is the case, mail us or phone us on 01642 223229 and we'll create an alternative bet for you using different bookies.
This method of betting was used very successfully during the 2006 World Cup and you can read all about how it was done right here.
We guarantee this bet
It's understandable that some people will not believe that it is possible to do this. "What's the catch?" I hear you asking. My answer to that question is that we have been publishing arbitrage bets for four seasons now and literally hundreds of people have profited from following the advice on these pages.
Only twice has our refund guarantee been triggered and that was when we did all the figures wrong and sent refunds out to those who had followed our advice and made a small loss.
Our refund guarantee works like this. If this bet doesn't work like we say it will and you end up out of pocket, we will refund your losses. Simple as that.
That means that you simply cannot lose on this, whatever happens and even if we messed up the numbers.
The only stipulation here is that you must click on the links on this page to be eligible for the refund guarantee, not that you'll be needing to claim anyway. Just enjoy the profit and stay posted for many more of these throughout the season.
