Aberdeen gave all those bored Irish Celtic fans something to cheer about today whenever Jonny Hayes and Anthony O'Connor contributed greatly to the defeat of Rangers at Pittodrie.
Hayes scored the first goal and O'Connor was Man of the Match - and, though Hayes did give away a penalty to allow Rangers back in the game, a late free kick from James Maddison gave Aberdeen the win on a 2-1 scoreline.
Hayes slotted home a fine goal at the start of the second half.
GOAL! Jonny Hayes' first SPFL goal of the season makes it 1-0 to @AberdeenFC https://t.co/Ecp9tAPlm8 pic.twitter.com/s4FNJCMYpk
— Scottish Sun Sport (@scotsunsport) September 25, 2016
O'Connor's heroic display at the back was a key factor in The Reds' win, which was very much against the run of play and came despite the Gers dominating for much of the ninety minutes.
Hayes made his debut for the Republic of Ireland senior team in their friendly game against Switzerland earlier in the year and was a stand-by for the European Championships this summer,while his team-mate has yet to make his senior bow.
At 29 years of age, Hayes, originally from Dublin, has had a bit of a journeyman career spent at clubs like Cheltenham and MK Dons before coming to Scotland to play with Inverness and then Aberdeen, where he has become something of a club favourite.
Corkman O'Connor has similarly put in the hard hours in the English lower leagues at Burton Albion and Torquay after failing to make a breakthrough at Blackburn Rovers. He was released from Burton, but after picking him up it looks like Aberdeen's gamble is starting to pay off.
And Hayes has no issue with banging them in against Celtic either.
