Unlucky for some, they say.

Christian Doidge’s thirteenth goal of the season was certainly unfortunate for Aberdeen as the Hibernian striker gave his side victory and the three points they needed to confirm their third place finish in the Premiership.

Their manager, Jack Ross, punched the Pittodrie air at the end of ninety compelling minutes as the men from the capital kept an effervescent Dons outfit at bay for much of the second half as the hosts sought parity.

With a Scottish Cup final to look forward to, it has turned out to be an excellent and fulfilling season for the Hibees, who face Celtic at home in the final game of the league campaign on Saturday.

This was a tale of two teams dogged by inconsistency and, at times, mediocrity for parts of the season as they battled it out for the Premiership’s bronze medal podium place.

The tempo of the game helped make it an eye-catching affair with attractive football on show and the promise of goals, although in the end it was a solitary strike that was enough.

Lewis Ferguson’s strenuous claim that his touch from Ryan Hedges’s corner-kick from the left had crossed the Hibs goal-line may have been waved away by referee John Beaton, but it told the story of a pumped-up Dons side eager to demonstrate they mean business under new manager Stephen Glass, still to work out what he’ll need in terms of his playing staff for next season.

The influence Hedges had on the team was palpable and the visitors recognised early on that he would be a handful as the hosts tried to involve him in every attacking manoeuvre.

It was he who teed-up the ball inside the Hibees penalty area in the 39th minute for Callum Hendry, on-loan from St Johnstone.

While the striker was still ruing his failure after scooping the ball quite a distance over the bar, the Easter Road men struck three minutes later to go in ahead at the interval.

It came from a move down the left with Jackson Irvine feeding Doidge who cleverly made space for himself just inside the area before firing an unstoppable and hugely impressive strike past Aberdeen goalkeeper Garry Woods from 15 yards.

It was not an undeserved lead in a very even first forty-five minutes where scoring chances were rare, although Irvine’s angular effort close to the Don s’ goal, which skimmed off the bar two minutes after the restart, could be put down as a half-chance.

Injuries to Aberdeen’s Jonny Hayes and to Melker Hallberg, of Hibs, saw the introduction of Matty Kennedy and Kyle Magennis respectively in the 54th minute, and moments later Glass was reminded his principal conundrum looking ahead to next season – how to unearth a proficient goalscorer or two.

Florian Kamberi, another on-loan front man seeking a permanent berth, somehow contrived to bullet his shot wide of the target from 14 yards as the visitors found themselves under fire.

The stoicism of the Hibs defenders, however, a solid back four with centre-backs Darren McGregor and Paul Hanlon sticking rigidly to their brief in snuffing out Kamberi and Hendry, worked a treat, while Alex Gogic as their holding midfielder ensured Hedges’s threat evaporated.

Indeed, Hedges was jettisoned for the creativity of Niall McGinn for the closing ten minutes, a gamble that did not pay off.

By then, the green and white barrier was reinforced and the men in the away dugout celebrated on the final whistle with third spot cemented.