The 1-0 home defeat to Aberdeen on Saturday seems to have dampened the collective euphoria that swept the Hibernian faithful in the wake of the CIS Cup semi-final win over Rangers. The game was dire with a number of the player's minds seemingly elsewhere. After conceding an early goal, Hibs had much the better of play, but simply could not create very much in a frustrating afternoon for the Hibs faithful. Whilst the manager must take some pelters for his team selection and tactics, the game revealed the problem with operating with such a small squad - get a couple of injuries to key creative players and the whole side looks just a little flat. Saturday's game was crying out for a creative first touch and a deft pass to unlock an Aberdeen side that evidently decided to play for a 1-0 win after about 10 minutes. We simply didn't have that available with Brebner, Glass and Murray all injured. Even so, our home form is now rivalling Partick Thistle's, with Hibs actually doing rather well on the road right now, and I am wondering if the club should start marketing "away" season tickets...

Standing at the back of the East Stand at half time I observed the building site at the back. Looking at the wreckage, I spied what was formerly the back wall of the old East terrace. Given how far back it sat, it must have been a truly awesome sight to behold, as it must have stretched half way to the moon. Whilst I share my editorial colleague Keith Small's affection for the East Stand as a throwback to the good old days of football, with its tightly packed seating and fantastic atmosphere I would have loved to have sat in the original East Stand.

Meanwhile Whyte & Mackay are in the process of occupying office space in the stand formerly known as the South Stand, in a deal that will go a long way to securing the financial future of the club in the medium term.

The Aberdeen game was our last SPL game before the final although Williamson intends to arrange a bounce game in the build-up to the match, although he admitted that the chances of long-term injury victim Ian Murray making the squad are slim.  "Time is running out for Ian," he said. "It would be a blow for us and him as he is a very good player and it would be great to have him available for selection. But if it’s not to be, it’s not to be."  The news will be no surprise to listeners of Radio Hibs.net's Saturday Live programme, where Ian Murray confirmed in an exclusive interview with Station Manager Cliff Pike that his chances were very slim of making the final.

The Cup Final itself is no foregone conclusion: to win the CIS Cup, Hibs must do what they have failed to do all season, and beat Livingston, the West Lothian side having beaten Hibs both times the sides have clashed. Nevertheless, if the Hibs players on the pitch cannot pull out all the stops with 35,000 (yes, you read that correctly, 35,000). Personally I am blown away by the prospect, and am looking forward just to seeing what 35,000 Hibs fans look and sound like, given that 7,000 managed to drown out a packed Rangers end in Glasgow for the semi-final. Actually having a game too will be a small bonus :-) I am also looking forward to meeting all the people coming from far and wide to attend. The journeys made by many will testify that distance does not dim the affection for Hibernian, and I hope our young team will mean there are many more days like this one.

More than 23,000 season ticket holders and fans with ticket stubs from the semi-final win over Rangers were able to pre-book tickets last week, and Hibs reacted to the overwhelming demand by topping up their initial 30,000 allocation with an extra 4,500 tickets for the final at Hampden on Sunday, 14 March, although even those have now gone, with Albion Road teeming with supporters desperate to book a place yesterday. The ticket office staff had never seen anything like it, and credit must go to all the administration staff for handling the melee in such a professional and good-humoured fashion.

Livingston’s tickets went on general sale yesterday from 9.30am to 5pm and telephone bookings will be accepted.  With Livingston taking only 9,000 of the 52,000 capacity for the final, Hibs manager Bobby Williamson agrees with me and believes the vocal backing his team will receive can only help Hibs. He told Hibs.net:  "I think it lifts players to play in front of a big crowd and the fact that the vast majority of the fans will be Hibs fans is tremendous for us," said Williamson.

Personally I hope that more tickets can be made available to Hibs, particularly if as I suspect, Livi don't sell all their tickets, despite practically giving them away and admitting those infernal drummers. For me, it would be a fantastic advert for Scottish football outside the Old Firm if we could fill Hampden without one of the bigot brothers being involved. It just seems wrong to me that if the tickets are available, people who want to see the game shouldn't be allowed in, because of petty rules and regulations. That kind of stupidity has got Scottish football to the brink of oblivion and it's about. 

The other attraction at Easter Road today was a re-scheduled under-21 game between Hibs and Aberdeen. The game was due to take place in Aberdeen on Monday, but the clubs agreed to re-arrange the game and the venue. Sadly the result was the same as the weekend, with Aberdeen running out 1-0 winners courtesy of a 70th minute strike from substitute John Stewart. Following a fairly even first period, the visitors broke the deadlock with twenty minutes to go when John Stewart picked up the ball midway inside the Hibs half, beat a defender, before coolly slipping the ball past the keeper into the net.