FOUR years ago I stood in the Hampden technical area as a coach at Queen of the South and watched as an Aberdeen side failed to get into a Scottish Cup final due largely to poor defending – and yesterday I felt as though I was watching the whole thing all over again as my old side lost in another semi-final, this time to Hibernian.
They froze again in the first half and just didn't turn up.
It was a poor performance overall, but they just never looked comfortable at the back and didn't handle Garry O'Connor or Leigh Griffiths at all well. Aberdeen were also let down by a lack of creativity in midfield and went long all too often because they had the two big guys, Scott Vernon and Rory Fallon, up front. By contrast, Hibs were excellent; they were solid defensively, their midfield pressed all over the place and we all know what the front two did. They were by far the better side in the first half.
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