Despite bright sunshine, it was a bitterly cold day at the Meadows, for this Superleague match and the biting wind, which blew across the field, made conditions difficult for both sides.

Neither team had played since the start of December and they took some time to get going. Hermes were the first to threaten, with Stephen Jack just missing the target with a couple of headers.

Ellon were closing the visitors down quickly, but Hermes began to settle into their familiar passing game.

In 34 minutes the Bridge of Don side rounded off a good spell of play with the opening goal. STEPHEN JACK and Michael Dawson combined well on the Hermes right and the striker forced the ball home from close range.

The Ellon players claimed that there was a hint of hand-ball as the ball ricocheted between the Hermes player and Callum Steer in the home goal before finding the net, but neither the ref nor his assistant saw anything amiss and the goal stood.

Hermes had the better of the first half with the only goal but they could regret not converting any more of the handful of chances they had created.

Half-time: Ellon United 0-1 Hermes

United came out in determined fashion right from the start of the second half, which was a much more even affair than the first forty-five.

Hermes struggled to cope with the bustling style of the home team and, with good football at a premium, neither side created any clear-cut chances, although Ellon carried much more of a threat as the half went on.

Reid in the visitors’ goal was rarely troubled but he was much busier than in the first half and he had to be on his toes several times, to race clear of his goal and sweep up behind his defence, as Ellon threatened to break through.

In 69 minutes Hermes made a couple of changes with Andrew Close and Craig Macklin being replaced by David Stevenson and Calum Murray in an effort to regain the upper hand.

However it was not until late in the half that Hermes finally made some inroads, forcing a series of corners and it was in the follow-up to one of these that they doubled their lead.

Although the corner was cleared, the ball reached Lee Smith wide on the left and, when his teasing cross caused confusion in the home defence, JACK stepped in to take advantage of the mix-up, rolling the ball calmly into the unguarded net.

The goal was timed at 85 minutes and two minutes later Hermes sealed victory with a similar counter.

The home side failed to deal decisively with another corner from the left and when Jack played the ball back into the box, LEE SMITH was allowed time and space to roll the ball into the net.

David Stevenson followed up and got a touch but the ball was already over the line before the striker’s intervention.

Full-time: Ellon United 0-3 Hermes

Hermes avoided another potential banana skin with a hard-fought win against a difficult opponent on their own ground.

Ellon battled from first to last and probably felt that they were denied the rub of the green, but, this season, Hermes seem to have mastered the art of grinding out victories when not quite at their best.

There was no lack of effort on the part of the visitors, especially amongst their free running forwards but the cutting edge was not as sharp as it has been.

Understandably, a four week lay-off may well have had something to do with that, and , in the end, although the score slightly flattered the visitors, they seldom looked like leaving Ellon empty-handed.

One pleasing aspect of the game was a solid, if unspectacular, debut by recent signing Fraser Strachan, who slotted into the back four so well that he looked as if he had been playing there all season.