ALL good things must come to an end at some point. And even bad things have a shelf life.

For Kilmarnock, the rousing run of six consecutive wins was brought to a shuddering halt here at Rugby Park. For Aberdeen, meanwhile, a week of raking over the debris following the timorous defeat in the Scottish Cup semi-final at least brought some solace.

You probably didn’t need to have a flick through the tarot cards our have your palms read to get an inkling that Aberdeen had a reasonable chance of plundering something from this encounter.

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They hadn’t lost this fixture since December 2011, after all, while three of the four defeats Kilmarnock have suffered under Steve Clarke’s invigorating stewardship have been at the hands of the men from the Granite City.

Kenny McLean, one of three players who were forced to sit out last weekend’s dismal Scottish Cup surrender, was the driving force behind Aberdeen’s redemption on Saturday and his cracking drive from some 30 yards set Derek McInnes’ side on their way to victory in a keenly contested tussle.

The scramble for second-place, with Hibernian now barging up on the rails, may yet come down to a photo finish. With McLean heading to pastures new in the summer, having signed on the dotted line at Norwich City, the 26-year-old was keen to bow out with a cup final flourish.

With those ambitions scuppered, he is determined to ensure that the silver lining comes in the form of another runners-up finish in the league.

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“I want to finish on as much of a high as possible,” he said. “We’ve finished second the last couple of seasons, but I think this would top the rest of them because it has been such a challenge with Hibs and Rangers and such a hard season.

“We have worked hard all year and we don’t want to throw that away now. There is nothing else we want. We can’t hide from the fact that this all there is for us now.”

Missing the semi-final was a right old scunner for McLean and he will have to twiddle his thumbs on the sidelines again in another crucial game against Hibernian after picking up a booking during a tousy skirmish which was prompted by Stephen O’Donnell’s foul on Ryan Christie.

“It was silly for me getting involved but there were another 10 players there and I’m the one who ends up getting booked,” lamented McLean. “It is a bit harsh. I’m going to be missing the Hibs game and I’ve let the boys down with that. The cup semi-final was harder to take being in the stands.

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“I felt nerves sitting there, but when I am playing I am fine. It’s because you know you can’t influence the game in the slightest. It was tough and I’m going to need to do it again in a couple of weeks when I am suspended.”

Kilmarnock, who were missing the vital cogs of Youssouf Mulumbu and Jordan Jones, spluttered to a first league defeat since they lost to Aberdeen in January but Kirk Broadfoot, the experienced defender, is determined to make sure the loss remains something of a rarity over the course of the last few games of the campaign.

“We got used to winning,” he said. “But the manager or the players won’t allow the season to just peter out.

“We’ve worked hard to get into the top six and we want to take points from the other teams to show we deserve to be in there.”