Aberdeen fought back from two goals down to draw 2-2 with HJK in a Europa Conference League game that was held up by a Helsinki snow storm.
The referee briefly stopped the game early in the second half because the travelling Dons fans were throwing snowballs, before a longer delay to allow several snow ploughs to clear the pitch.
Aberdeen were two goals down inside 33 minutes but a stunning strike from Angus MacDonald gave them a lifeline.
Duk levelled in the 56th minute before the 13-minute delay. There had been snow on the artificial pitch at the Bolt Arena from the start with an orange ball deployed and there was no let-up throughout amid temperatures of -5C.
Aberdeen finished the stronger team after the game restarted but could not convert several late chances.
Here are five things we learned from the Euro contest...
1. Aberdeen showed plenty of character to bounce back from going two goals down in what was a Jekyll and Hyde performance.
They looked down and out after atrocious defending when Aberdeen's Montenegro international defender Slobodan Rubezic didn't exactly cover himself in glory when he dived in to try and cut out an attack and allowed Burkina Faso striker Hassane Bande to gallop free and smash his effort past Kelle Roos.
Then it was far, far too easy for an Aberdeen point of view as Santeri Hostikka was given too much room to saunter into the box and place a low drive into the net from the right hand corner of the box.
But Angus MacDonald dragged the Dons right back into it with an absolute screamer of a half volley from fully 30 yards out to score his first goal for the club.
Then Duk turned the ball in at the back post following a Richard Jensen flick-on from a corner and Aberdeen were much improved after a half time rollocking from Barry Robson and could have won the game. 2. The conditions last night were surely one of the worst any Aberdeen team has had to endure...and there was even a real danger the ref would call it off at one point. But it wasn't for the snow that was piling up, it was bizarrely because of snowballs.
Although the temperature was a bracing -5, that plummeted to -14 with the bone-chilling wind chill factor added in. And snow swirled around the Bolt Arena all game and covered the lines of the pitch. A half time tractor attempting to clear the lines at half time made little difference.
The players were also ordered off with 15 minutes to go so three tractors could clear the snow off the pitch in increasing farcical conditions. But not to worry because the Finnish version of jingle bells was played during the ten minute delay!
But the 1,528 Aberdeen fans who had braved the conditions and the 10 Euros a pint costs in the Finnish capital decided to pelt home keeper Niki Maenpaa with icy missiles in the second half.
The Dons fans were given four separate warnings on the PA system to refrain from hurling the snowballs and even warned the game could be called off for 'security reasons' if they didn't stop.
Almost immediately, Aberdeen equalised from a corner with Maenpaa looking none too clever. Perhaps this unlikely tactic unsettled the HJK keeper. 3. Dons boss Barry Robson admitted he was concerned the game would be abandoned because of the conditions, but was proud of his players for the way his side bounced back.
He said: "Did I think it could be abandoned for the snow or the snowballs? Probably a bit of both.
"But we wanted the game to carry on because we were the team in the ascendancy and were desperate to try to win the game.
“How close did it come to being abandoned? It’s hard to tell. The snow was covering the lines but I’m not going to say it should or shouldn’t have been abandoned. We didn’t pick up any injuries and that was my big concern, we seem to be okay.
“We had a lot of players who came in and needed minutes. I feel they did well. It’s frustrating because it could have been three points, we looked like the team most likely to win it as the game went on.
"Helsinki dealt with the conditions at the start of the game. We knew the pitch would be difficult when we got here and had a walk on it.
"Once we got in at half-time, I told them I wasn’t having that, wasn’t having that they could deal with it better. That was the biggest problem.
"I was so pleased to score two goals away from home and we probably should have gone on to win it. We wanted to win it for the fans so we’re frustrated we didn’t do it." 4. Robson had insisted he would go all out for the win here but rang the changes. He made seven changes from the team that drew with Rangers at the weekend. He handed first starts to 20-year-old defender Jack Milne and striker Papa Gueye.
Gueye, who had played just 56 minutes, was at the centre of a UEFA investigation after Aberdeen alleged he was racially abused in the Dons' last Europa Conference League in Greece against PAOK.
Jonny Hayes was handed the captain's armband with Graeme Shinnie on the bench and there was also a rare start for Angus MacDonald.
Dante Polvara, Connor Barron and Duk were the other changes, with Bojan Miovski, Stefan Gartenmann and Nicky Devlin all on the bench, along with Leighton Clarkson and Jamie McGrath.
It would tend to suggest that Robson had prioritised Sunday's league game at Easter Road against Hibs as more important than the £435,000 handed out for a win in Europe. 5. This was a chance to look at the lesser-spotted Papa Guye properly. The Dons paid a hefty £500,000 fee to land the Senegalese striker from Belgian side Kortrijk in August and he's made next to no impression with only fleeting glimpses off the bench.
But he was handed his opportunity alongside Duk. However, based on last night's evidence, it might be a while before he is trusted to start another game. There was no lack of effort, but nothing seemed to stick for him and his link-up play with strike partner Duk was next to non-existent. He missed a great chance in the third minute of the game when he should have scored and it went downhill from there before he was hooked at half time.
There's clearly a talent there, but at the not-inconsiderable outlay, Barry Robson and Aberdeen would surely be expecting more.
