Dons keep pressure on Celtic

A phantom goal from Adam Rooney failed to prevent Aberdeen cutting the gap on Scottish Premiership leaders Celtic to three points as they triumphed 3-0 at Hamilton.Rooney's shot bounced at least a yard over the line late in the first half but referee Willie Collum waved play on.However, the Dons were already two ahead after early goals from Andrew Considine and Ryan Jack and were comfortably heading for the three points long before Collum sent off Hamilton defender Jesus Garcia Tena on the hour mark.Collum also disallowed goals from Considine and Aberdeen substitute David Goodwillie but Niall McGinn netted a third in the 88th minute as the Dons stretched their unbeaten league run to 12 games and kept the pressure on Celtic, who they play at Parkhead in two weeks' time, after a home game against St Mirren.Hamilton have now gone seven games without victory since Martin Canning took over following the departure to Norwich of player-boss Alex Neil, who was watching from the television studio at New Douglas Park.And they paid the price for a poor start as Aberdeen took less than six minutes to get in front. Rooney just failed to connect with McGinn's cross from the right wing but the ball spun off defender Ziggy Gordon towards his own goal. Michael McGovern dived to keep it out but Considine was on hand to blast home the rebound from a yard out.McGinn set up the second from the left wing within two minutes. The Northern Ireland international curled a low cross into the path of Jack, who got ahead of Stephen Hendrie and stabbed the ball in off the underside of the bar.It could easily have been three soon after when Considine found fellow full-back Shay Logan with an arching cross but the Englishman headed just wide at the back post.Hamilton looked uncomfortable in possession in the opening quarter but they began to threaten midway through the half.Hendrie's low cross just evaded Jason Scotland and the left-back had a couple of shots off target after Tena's header was blocked in the six-yard box.Hamilton came closer when Ali Crawford set up Scotland on the counter-attack but Dons goalkeeper Scott Brown got enough of his body on the striker's shot to allow Mark Reynolds to clear off the line.Accies had a huge let-off just before the break when Rooney shot off the underside of the bar after McGinn had turned the ball back following an excellent break by Jonny Hayes. Television pictures showed the ball bounced well behind the line before landing in McGovern's arms but neither the well-placed Collum nor assistant David McGeachie spotted the goal.McGovern made good saves from Peter Pawlett and Rooney either side of the break and Collum further enraged the visiting support when he awarded Hamilton a free-kick after Tena had wrestled the Irish striker to the ground in the Accies penalty box, moments after the defender had been booked for a foul on Hayes.Tena was soon booked again for hauling down McGinn on the edge of his box after a poor clearance and McGovern produced a good diving save to deny Kenny McLean from the free-kick.The Accies goalkeeper was beaten in the 64th minute when Considine rose above Craig Watson to head home but Collum ruled the Aberdeen left-back had climbed on the substitute's shoulders.McGovern saved headers from Rooney and Considine before Aberdeen had another goal disallowed in the 80th minute when Goodwillie helped the ball over the line. The ball appeared to be going in anyway after Considine had flicked on McGinn's cross but the substitute's touch prompted an offside flag.Considine continued to play a major role by sweeping the ball forward for McGinn to run through yards of space and drill home the third.