We kicked off facing the beach end and we looked the part as the bright lights highlighted our white away strip. Lappin was given the left midfield spot ahead of Fitzpatrick.
Another tense moment
We controlled much of the first twenty minutes and tried to play some passes but we never looked liked scoring.
Diamond converted a header high into the net and we struggled to get to the break without further loss. We looked weak when defending crossed balls and looked to be a yard of the pace as the first period ended. Hammell looked as though he has not yet settled and Clarkson's shiner of a left eye might have explained his quiet game.
For the first time this season we looked like a tired team in the second half. McGhee rang the changes bringing on Fitzpatrick, Smith and eventually Murphy instead of Lappin, McCormack and finally Clarkson.
Smith, meanwhile, produced three wonderful saves to keep us in the match. A mixture of diving saves and brave smothers at the feet of strikers helped to convince the outfield ten that there was something to come.
We pressed hard in the final quarter and earned a penalty when Porter was tumbled with ten minutes left. The big striker took the kick but Soutar got down well at his left post to turn the ball away for a corner.
The other Smith, Darren, came to the rescue. A corner clearance fell to him at the edge of the box and he fired low into the net to give the small travelling band of fans a cheery journey back down the road.
We can hardly grumble at taking a point from Pittodrie but we were far from our best. An improvement on Saturday would be nice!