THE voices may have been different but the words were exactly the same.

Aberdeen's ashen-faced players were disappointed; they had conceded bad goals, spurned a great chance to reach a final and let down the supporters. All they can do now is concentrate on the games to come and hope to get another chance.

On the club's 109th birthday, the routine was depressingly familiar for the supporters, too, as they carried their weary indignation on to the buses and trains back north. Well in excess of 100 coaches had pulled up outside Hampden despite the inhospitable kick-off time. Fuelled by Export and the hope that this time would be different, the fans had convinced themselves that four semi-final defeats in four years would soon be forgotten. Instead, they were left to ruminate over a fifth.

In hindsight, their belief was misplaced, given that this is an Aberdeen side bereft of pace, creativity and inspiration. Craig Brown has, understandably, opted to ensure his team are physically domineering and difficult to overwhelm, but cluttering his squad with such athletes has come at the expense of wit.

The Pittodrie midfield, for example, is one-paced. And that pace is slow. Stephen Hughes, for all his apparent technical ability, appears laboured in his movement and was unable to dictate the tempo in harness with the increasingly anonymous Kari Arnason; Chris Clark's most notable moment was leaving the field to accommodate the introduction of Darren Mackie; while Ryan Jack lasted only until the interval, when the arrival of Fraser Fyvie at least injected impetus into a narrow and unimaginative quartet.

A lack of width need not be a problem if the full-backs are willing to overlap but Clark Robertson was constricted by the threat of Ivan Sproule, and Rory McArdle, while willing, was consistently errant in his delivery. With each hapless hoof, the absence of the likes of Mitch Megginson and Peter Pawlett among the 16 became more glaring, particularly as Brown had opted to pair Scott Vernon and Rory Fallon as a robust front two almost entirely reliant on crosses. Granted, the latter scored with a splendid strike but the lack of creativity meant it would take such moments of virtuosity to breach the Hibernian goal.

Their best hope, therefore, was to discomfit Hibs from set-pieces, but the pace of Leigh Griffiths caused a cautious back four to sit deep, meaning Aberdeen struggled to advance up the pitch and win the free-kicks, corners and even throw-ins that strategy demanded. "We had two big guys up front and we never put high balls into the box for them," conceded Fyvie, whose two efforts from distance were the closest Aberdeen came apart from Fallon's goal.

What they also did not do was defend properly. The Pittodrie back four has been rightly praised for their parsimony this term and, for the most part, performed diligently on Saturday, but two lapses cost them. Garry O'Connor was afforded far too much time to convert in the opening few minutes, then a simple header and flick were enough to send Griffiths scampering clear with five minutes remaining. "It was an easy second goal," admitted Fyvie, who was noncommittal on the subject of his future. "The manager said that and told us what we had done wrong defensively and he was angry, as we all were."

That anger was not obviously manifest during the 90 minutes, Brown and Archie Knox having taken residence in their seats some distance from the turf, while Pat Fenlon, the Hibs manager, leaped and cajoled from the perimeter of his technical area. Criticism of that strategy might be unjust, but might a more obvious pitch-side presence have made a difference to the Aberdeen players? Certainly, some could perhaps use a reminder of reality from time to time.

"We will look at the final in a month's time and think we should be there," said Hughes. "I thought we deserved it in the second half. I don't think nerves played a part; I certainly wasn't nervous, because we have everything in place here to be successful. We've a top-class manager and we've got a good squad. We need consistency to breed confidence and get the fans behind us for the rest of the season so we can take it from there."

To the Aberdeen supporters, those sentiments will sound wearily familiar.