Rangers were cheated of victory at Pittodrie this afternoon - a last-minute DaMarcus Beasley goal being wrongly disallowed for offside by lineman Billy Baxter as the game ended in a 1-1 draw.
It was just one more in a series of erroneous decisions that have cost the Light Blues so dearly over the past year - their last visit to Pittodrie on 22 May of course resulted in the 0-2 defeat that cost the visitors the League title, although ultimately it was fixture congestion and manipulation, combined with refereeing decisions in key games that ultimately cheated the Ibrox men of the 2007-08 Championship.
Manager Walter Smith made three changes from last Saturday with Lee McCulloch, Andrius Velicka and Kyle Lafferty being replaced by the newly resigned Steve Davis from Fulham, Kenny Miller and Nacho Novo - now free from the suspension that was imposed on him following his ordering-off at this very same venue three months ago.
Rangers made the running right from the start - Novo's turn-and-shot in the fourth minute flashing just over.
Four minutes later Pedro Mendes powered in a drive from a Kevin Thomson cross that missed the target by inches.
At the other end former Celt Charlie Mulgrew tested Allan McGregor with a thirty-yard free-kick that the goalkeeper held in twelve minutes.
The Light Blues held the upper hand however - and deservedly took the lead in 24 minutes with a David Weir header from a Thomson free-kick from out near the touchline.
Four minutes later it might have been 2-0 when Kris Boyd's shot from a Novo pass was blocked by Jamie Langfield.
It was one-way traffic at this juncture - Boyd turning creator on the half-hour mark when his pass to Novo saw the little Spaniard's chip drift inches wide.
The visitors had been very much in the ascendancy throughout the first-half, so much so that a one-goal lead scarcely reflected their dominance. Boyd might have rectified that in 42 minutes with a shot on the turn from a Davis pass that slipped past the post.
Unbelievably however the scores were level at the interval - the Dons' equalising on the stroke of half-time when a Mulgrew cross found Lee Miller whose header was blocked by McGregor, the loose ball falling perfectly for Derek Young who rifled a shot into the roof of the net.
Rangers were still on top as the second-half unfolded - Novo breaking through on a Sasa Papac pass in 52 minutes only to shoot wide.
Five minutes later a Mendes volley from the edge of the box from a Davis corner flashed over.
Jean-Claude Darcheville replaced Novo in 73 minutes.
Three minutes later - in what was almost their only attack worthy of note during the entire second-half - the Dons threatened when Miller's head-flick released Darren Mackie through on goal, McGregor diving at his feet to thwart him.
Beasley replaced Kenny Miller in 81 minutes - and as Rangers pressed for the winner in the closing stages they were denied the winning goal in the dying seconds when the American Internationalist stroked home a Mendes cross only for the goal to be chalked off for offside on the say-so of linesman Martin Cryans.
It was a truly appalling decision, for Beasley was clearly onside. Boyd was in an offside position - but not by any stretch of the imagination interfering with play.
The final whistle sounded soon afterwards - and Rangers had been cheated of a deserved win.
Afterwards a clearly exasperated Walter Smith commented:
"Beasley's goal was clearly onside, Kris Boyd was not interfering with play. It's so frustrating for managers. We deserved to win. We played well in the first-half, although our final ball let us down at times."
ABERDEEN Langfield; Foster, Severin, Considine, Mulgrew; Young, McDonald, Kerr, Smith (Wright 88); Miller, Mackie (Duff 81)
UNUSED SUBS Bossu, De Visscher, Paton, Maguire, Mair
RANGERS McGregor; Broadfoot, Weir, Bougherra, Papac; Davis, Mendes, Thomson, Miller (Beasley 81); Boyd, Novo (Darcheville 73)
UNUSED SUBS Alexander, Whittaker, Aaron, Furman, Fleck
REFEREE Craig Thomson