By Sean Saranczuk
October 23 2003

Andy McLaren scored the only goal of the game for Dundee United to turn up the heat on Aberdeen manager Steve Paterson. The Tannadice winger struck in the 11th minute - with the aid of a deflection off Russell Anderson - to lift Ian McCall's side away from the relegation zone and leapfrog the free-falling Dons.

Pittodrie boss Paterson was left a forlorn figure again as his team trudged from the field to the sound of jeers from their own fans.

The visitors were out of the traps first and had a strong penalty claim in the sixth minute turned down. Craig Easton fired the ball off a defender from point-blank range but referee Iain Brines decided to give the home side the benefit of the doubt.

However, United took the lead in the 11th minute after some excellent play from Wilson.

The youngster raced from the halfway line and released McLaren wide on the left with a perfectly-weighted pass.

The former Kilmarnock man tried to beat David Preece with a low shot but his strike looked to be heading wide until Dons captain Russell Anderson slid in and sent the ball spinning past his own goalkeeper.

Aberdeen were then dealt another blow when Kevin McNaughton had to be carried from the field after a collision with Paterson.

The one-time Scotland international was knocked out cold and, after three minutes of on-field medical attention, was replaced by Chris Clark.

United almost added a second in the dying minutes of the first half when a Jim Paterson free-kick caught the home defence sleeping and found its way through to Chris Innes at the back post.

The defender slid in and caught the ball with his toe but somehow managed to send it over the crossbar.

Jim McIntyre should have made sure of the victory with 15 minutes left when he gathered a short back-pass from McGuire and homed in on the goalkeeper.

However, Preece raced from his line to narrow the angle and crowded out the striker.