Aberdeen 3-0 Gretna: Gretna fall to inevitable at Pittodrie

ABERDEEN 3
Maguire 40; Miller 68 pen; Nicholson 74

GRETNA 0

HELPING the Border club limp along until the league split at the very least may be seen as a solution to the almighty mess the alternative would throw up, but it remains a far from flawless plan. Although Aberdeen took their time to break down the administration-strapped club, with around half the Gretna starting line up unfamiliar with regular SPL action, there was an inevitability to it.

These were three points there for the taking and in a tight battle for a top-six place, it became apparent that those facing this club in their current condition have a distinct advantage.

But no one is at a bigger disadvantage at the moment than the Gretna players and staff. For them the football is secondary. Wages haven't been hitting their accounts and now their jobs are on the line; even those who have clubs circling have their own issues to deal with.

Gavin Skelton has been with the club throughout the journey up the divisions and yesterday he admitted the club had probably squeezed as much into five years as most clubs manage in 50 but for all the highs, the current troubles have left him torn in two. Obviously anguished, he admitted that he had been one of the players who originally made themselves unavailable for selection, the possibility of injury a risk he was unwilling to take in such an uncertain climate. Several sleepless nights later he changed his mind. His conscience and sense of loyalty dictated it.

"I didn't want to let anyone down. I didn't want to let myself down. I needed the peace of mind of saying I played. I didn't want to look back and regret my decision but that's not to say I don't totally understand the decision of the lads who didn't. They had their reasons. This is a worrying time for everyone. It's been a really hard week."

And caretaker boss Mick Wadsworth admitted that it could get tougher in the days ahead. "We are in a perilous state and it has been a terrible turn of events and a big shock to everyone, with the income stream stopping so suddenly. I haven't spoken to Brooks and the family, perhaps rightly from their point of view, have protected him but I just wish he could have engineered it financially that he could have made a more graceful withdrawal at the end of the season. I hope we will still get there and somebody can take over but I just wish it had been handled a bit better.

"I don't know what's going to happen now. I'm no more informed than the groundsman, staff, young players or older players, we are all in the same boat. Will I have enough players to pick a team next week? I don't know if I will even be here next week. If there is cost cutting, it might be me that goes and to be honest I would rather it was me than one of the young coaches."

Even before the match kicked off there had been more bad news to burden them with. Fir Park had once again been deemed unplayable and having postponed yet another match it emerged that it was already being ruled out as a venue for the troubled club's match against Celtic next weekend. With the income from that game the financial lifeline Gretna need to survive even a few more weeks, there will be frantic meetings over the next 24 hours to identify an alternative that would allow the game to go ahead on Sunday.

But this remains a club existing in a vegetative state. Gretna eventually succumbed to a Chris Maguire goal in the 40th minute, the youngster getting on to Jeffrey De Visscher's ball into the box in a central position and curling it home. Aberdeen should have found a way through before then and manager Jimmy Calderwood changed things around at the start of the second half, injecting some pace into his side by putting on Steve Lovell and Sone Aluko for Maguire and Karim Touzani. Gretna came out battling and scrapping in the second half, but when Lee Miller scored from the penalty spot after he was felled by Artur Kysiak – a replacement for Greg Fleming who did refuse to play – in the 68th minute, the body language of the visitors told it's own story. The match was turning into a metaphor for the club's struggle and the message was clear – you can fight all you like but if you haven't got what it takes then it's futile.

Six minutes later it was 3-0. This time it was courtesy of a sweetly-struck Barry Nicholson shot from about 20 yards and as the sides trooped back into position for the restart, the shoulders of the visiting players slumped. Only the hardest hearts would have felt anything other than pity for them. Regardless of your view on the mess the club is in, the players are not the people to blame.

Mileson has failed to issue a public statement or even an apology or explanation to the players, staff and fans, while chairman Ron McGregor also ignored several media requests yesterday to help clarify the situation with regards to next weekend's Celtic match. While others hide, it is the players putting themselves on the line.

Skelton is one of those who could escape but he says he doesn't know if he can walk out after 225 games with the club without feeling he is leaving friends in the lurch. Having wrestled with his conscience, he eventually put everything on the line yesterday and, in the dying seconds and already 3-0 down, he was the player diving at the feet of Aberdeen players taking another body blow for the Gretna cause.

Like his team-mates, he played for pride and as they left the pitch it wasn't only their own fans who were on their feet applauding them as they trudged up the tunnel. The home fans joined in.