Aberdeen's rejuvenation under Derek McInnes continued apace as a 4-0 victory over St Johnstone sent them into the League Cup final.
Jonny Hayes netted a double either side of strikes from Peter Pawlett and Adam Rooney to send the Dons into their first major final for 14 years, when they lost 4-0 to Rangers in the Scottish Cup final.
They last won a trophy the League Cup, in the 1995-96 season.
Aberdeen have suffered shock defeats against the likes of Queen's Park and East Fife in recent seasons, but McInnes has helped transform a poor cup reputation in his first full season as manager just as he looks certain to lead the Dons into the top six for the first time in five years.
Both sides had lost five semi-finals in the previous six seasons and it was the Dons who always looked like ending their run when Hayes opened the scoring in the third minute, although they had to withstand some concerted pressure before doubling their lead.
Aberdeen, roared on by more than three-quarters of the 16,761 capacity crowd at Tynecastle, threatened even before the opener when Steve Banks scooped over Rooney's shot following a Barry Robson cross.
The 41-year-old goalkeeper, who was continuing to deputise for the suspended and injured Alan Mannus, contributed to his side's early blow when he sliced a goal-kick 40 yards out on Aberdeen's right flank.
Rooney latched on to it and raced down the line before delivering a square ball that Hayes guided just past the outstretched hand of the keeper.
St Johnstone's response was as quick as Aberdeen's start. Stevie May was at the heart of some attacking moves, Nigel Hasselbaink was causing problems for right-back Shaleum Logan, who signed on loan from Brentford on Thursday and Saints bombarded the Dons with a series of corners and free-kicks into the box.
But the Aberdeen defence stood firm, with captain Russell Anderson dominant in central defence.
St Johnstone eventually broke through when Lee Croft burst on to the ball after May had initially played through Gary McDonald, but Jamie Langfield got down brilliantly to push wide his powerful strike.
Aberdeen were struggling to relieve the pressure, but they broke to effect in the 32nd minute when Hayes won the ball from Croft and sprinted up the line.
The Irishman initially only had Niall McGinn for support and his crossfield ball was cut out. But Pawlett ran on to the clearance and burst into the box before squeezing the ball inside Banks' near post.
St Johnstone continued to press, but Aberdeen looked more assured, although Tommy Wright's men almost pulled one back six minutes into the second half.
Frazer Wright looped a header off the top of the bar from Croft's corner and McDonald's unconvincing follow-up was diverted wide.
Former Scotland striker Chris Iwelumo came on for his St Johnstone debut, but Aberdeen soon went further ahead in the 62nd minute following another counter-attack.
Pawlett dispossessed Dave Mackay 10 yards inside his own half and threaded a ball between the St Johnstone central defence for Rooney to chase.
The Irishman kept his composure and fired home from 18 yards to score his second goal in two games since his move from Oldham.
Hayes shot just over before two teenagers briefly held up play when they ran on to the park from the Saints end and got to the technical area, where Celtic boss Neil Lennon was infamously attacked by a Hearts fan in 2011, before being apprehended by police and stewards.
Aberdeen were now firmly in command and Andrew Considine headed off the bar before Hayes completed the rout in the 79th minute when he ran at the Saints defence and fired a left-footed shot into the bottom corner from 16 yards.
The Dons will now bid to extend their run in the William Hill Scottish Cup when they travel to Celtic Park next Saturday before playing the winners of Sunday's clash between Hearts and Inverness in this competition's final on March 16.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article