LEE Miller last night recaptured the form and finishing prowess which had deserted him since the turn of the year as Aberdeen came from behind at Rugby Park to secure a win which allowed them to leapfrog Hearts into fourth place in the SPL table.
Recognised as Scotland's Player of the Month in December, Miller had been as scathing as anyone in assessing his performances at the start of January but he delivered the perfect response to turn this excellent game in his team's favour.
His bri
lliantly taken double, after Kilmarnock had opened the scoring through Allan Russell, gave Jimmy Calderwood's side a significant victory and prevented Kilmarnock forcing their way into the top six.
Having been overwhelmed on their previous visit to this venue back in September, when Kilmarnock scored four goals in the opening 33 minutes of the Co-operative Insurance Cup tie between the sides, Calderwood's men would have been appreciative of the need to try and subdue their hosts in the opening stages.
There was an immediate vibrancy about Kilmarnock's play, however, which provided evidence of their belief they were capable of exerting a similar dominance in this match. Even before Russell gave them the lead after ten minutes, they produced some neat and threatening football which hinted at another difficult night for Aberdeen.
Jamie Hamill, replacing Grant Murray in the only change to the Kilmarnock line-up held by Ayr United in the Scottish Cup on Saturday, surged forward to get on the end of their first sweeping move of the match but drove his shot from 20 yards high and wide.
Aberdeen struggled to make any significant progress towards the Kilmarnock goal but offered their fans some encouragement when Sone Aluko worked space for himself to drive a low shot which Damien Rascle was relieved to see flash wide.
There was little doubt, however, that Kilmarnock merited their breakthrough goal when it arrived soon afterwards. Aberdeen captain Scott Severin was penalised for a challenge from behind on David Fernandez to present the hosts with a free-kick. Willie Gibson played it short to Garry Hay whose powerful shot was heading wide until Danny Invincibile re-directed the ball across the face of the six-yard box into the path of Russell, who left Langfield helpless with a sweetly struck first-time finish.
Kilmarnock looked to capitalise on seizing the initiative and were unfortunate not to double their advantage when Invincibile cut the ball back into the path of Craig Bryson whose stabbed shot was deflected over the crossbar off Zander Diamond.
It proved a significant intervention by the Aberdeen defender as his team gradually gained a foothold in the contest and started to ask questions of the Kilmarnock defence.
Gary McDonald should have equalised against his former club when he was left completely unattended to meet a cross from Charlie Mulgrew, only to guide his looping header wide of Rascle's right-hand post with the 'keeper beaten.
Another good delivery from Mulgrew, this time a corner kick, did see Aberdeen draw level in 30 minutes. The set piece found Miller at the near post and the striker showed great ingenuity to flick a shot beyond Rascle with the outside of his right boot.
Aberdeen had succeeded in drawing the sting from their opponents and as Kilmarnock ran out of both steam and ideas, it was the visitors who began to dominate territory and possession in the second half.
Rascle looked less than comfortable when he punched a powerful free-kick from Miller to safety and the French goalkeeper had no answer when the forward put Aberdeen 2-1 ahead just before the hour mark.
Aluko did well to retain possession in the penalty area and feed the ball to Darren Mackie wide on the right. His cross to the near post picked out Miller who produced another exemplary piece of finishing with a flicked header beyond Rascle into the opposite corner of the net.
Jim Jefferies sent on both Medhi Taouil and Donovan Simmonds in a bid to salvage something from the match but Killie slumped to their fifth defeat in their last six home SPL fixtures.
Kilmarnock: Rascle, Hamill (Taouil 72), Wright, Pascali, Hay; Invincibile, Fowler, Bryson, Gibson; Fernandez, Russell (Simmonds 75). Subs not used: Bell, Murray, Skelton, Flannigan, Nolan.
Aberdeen: Langfield, Foster, Diamond, Severin (Mair 82), Considine; Mackie, Kerr, McDonald, Mulgrew; Aluko, Miller. Subs not used: Bossu, Wright, Duff, De Visscher, Maguire, Paton.
