Aberdeen 3 Ross County 0

First-half headers from Adam Rooney and David Goodwillie and a second-half strike from Peter Pawlett saw Aberdeen earn a 3-0 victory over Scottish Premiership strugglers Ross County at Pittodrie.

With the Dons already 2-0 up and half-time fast approaching, Dons pair Willo Flood and Ryan Jack exchanged words before squaring up to each other in the midfield area.

They were quickly separated and referee Craig Thomson opted to book both players, but the flashpoint will need to be addressed by Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes.

It was all the more strange, as the home side had been on the front foot for most of the game, and had the ball in the net as early as the third minute only for the linesman's flag to deny Niall McGinn the opener.

Goodwillie and Rooney were in the starting line-up together for the first time, and both were involved as McGinn then turned provider with a cross from the right, which saw Rooney denied by Mark Brown in the County goal.

The keeper saved again from the same player after 13 minutes as Aberdeen continued to look the more creative of the two sides.

However, Ross County nearly opened the scoring but midfielder Rocco Quinn ran the ball out of play after his late run saw him arrive unchecked to meet Michael Gardyne's pass down the right.

Had Quinn not miscontrolled, he had only goalkeeper Jamie Langfield to beat.

His profligacy was punished though, as Aberdeen took a deserved lead after 20 minutes. Despite all their patient build-up play, it was a set-piece that saw the deadlock broken. McGinn's left-wing corner found Rooney, who powered his header beyond Brown.

Five minutes later, and it was the same story as Aberdeen doubled their lead. This time it was a free-kick in the midfield, won by McGinn, that led to the goal. The Ulsterman floated a ball into the area, and this time it was Goodwillie who turned the ball home.

It was all very comfortable so far, although a loose clearance from Ash Taylor allowed the visitors another sight of goal, Jamie Langfield equal to Yoann Arquin's powerful strike.

Jack and Flood's spat was quickly forgotten and, just five minutes into the second half, Flood created the third goal for Pawlett. Goodwillie cleverly stepped over the Irishman's cross from the right, and Pawlett arrived to drill the ball low into the net.

The home side had a shout for a penalty as Pawlett went down theatrically under the attentions of Richie Brittain, but Thomson was unmoved by the Dons appeals and play continued.

Moments later, though, the referee had his card out to book Scott Boyd for a foul on Goodwillie, the referee having played a good advantage to allow the play to develop. Jackson Irvine quickly followed into the referee's notebook after a show of dissent.

Aberdeen were forced into a change just before the hour, with McGinn clutching his hamstring as he made way for Jeffrey Monakana. Shortly afterwards, County's first change saw Filip Kiss take the place of the ineffective Joe Cardle.

Pawlett could have grabbed his second goal after 63 minutes as he took advantage of hesitation from Scott Boyd to get in behind the visitors defence, but his volley was brilliantly turned away by Brown to keep the scoreline respectable.

Midway through the second period, Arquin was replaced up front for County by former Portsmouth man Jake Jervis, and almost immediately the visitors created an opening, but Langfield denied Quinn with a fine save.

There was another let-off at the other end as Monakana's ball allowed Goodwillie to round Brown in search of a fourth goal, only for the striker to hit the post with his angled strike.

Two minutes later, Goodwillie slipped a neat ball into the path of Pawlett who saw his shot hit the side netting, his final involvement as he was immediately withdrawn to be replaced by Cammy Smith.

With the game all but over, Barry Robson replaced Rooney for the home side and Ben Frempah took the place of Scott Boyd for County, before Kiss picked up a late yellow card.