Aberdeen shatter Hearts´ Cup hopes

Aberdeen moved into the Scottish Cup fifth round with a clinical 2-0 win over Hearts on Saturday.

Goals from Darren Mackie and Lee Miller in the second half at Pittodrie were enough to seal the victory for Mark McGhee’s side and end Hearts’ five-match unbeaten run.

It was Aberdeen’s first home win since November and they were rarely troubled by a lacklustre Hearts team.

Mackie broke the deadlock in the 60th minute with his first goal for the Dons since February 2009.

Peter Pawlett released Lee Miller with an intelligent pass and the striker clipped the ball past the onrushing Marian Kello for Mackie to shoot home.

Chris Maguire, who had come on as a replacement for Paul Marshall just minutes earlier, created Aberdeen’s second when his deep cross to the far post was slotted home by Miller in the 76th minute.

The Pittodrie clash was one of only five Cup fixtures to survive the snowy conditions in Scotland.

Celtic’s clash at Morton was postponed as were nine other matches including Kilmarnock v Falkirk and Inverness v Motherwell. Rangers’ trip to Hamilton on Sunday is still scheduled to go ahead.

In the other matches that beat the freeze, Hibernian avoided a shock as they cruised past Irvine Meadow 3-0 at Easter Road.

Irvine, who beat Arbroath in November to set up the first ever cup clash between an SPL and Junior level side, hadn’t played a competitive match for more than a month.

It showed as Derek Riordan put Hibernian ahead in the 32nd minute when his shot deflected in off Alexander Ryan.

Merouane Zemmama increased Hibernian’s lead in the 42nd minute before Paul Hanlon added the third goal in the 59th minute.

Elsewhere, Dundee United won 2-0 at Partick thanks to goals from Damian Casalinuovo and David Goodwillie, Dunfermline thrashed Stenhousemuir 7-1 and St Mirren beat Alloa 3-1.