Aberdeen 3-2 Hibernian
Republic of Ireland winger Jonny Hayes' deflected strike edged Aberdeen into the Scottish Cup final and set up a mouthwatering collision with either Celtic or Rangers.
Adam Rooney scored after 13 seconds to send Aberdeen on their way, and they doubled their lead in the 24th minute thanks to a brilliant free-kick from Ryan Christie.
But a spirited Hibs fightback meant the Dons required a heavily-deflected Hayes effort to seal a 3-2 victory in a classic Hampden encounter.
"To get to the final, you can see what it means to a lot of people," the 29-year-old Dubliner said.
"The second half we probably didn't do ourselves justice but we came up against one of the best sides in the country and thankfully a wicked deflection has got us into the final and given us a chance to get back here.
"The manager is always on my case about trying to be positive, even when things aren't going your way, try and create something and if you don't shoot you don't score and we had that little bit of luck we needed."
Hibs, fresh from clinching the Ladbrokes Championship title, had got back in the game thanks to an inspired first-half substitution. Replacement Grant Holt headed them back in it and then set up Dylan McGeouch's equaliser on the hour mark.
It took a large slice of fortune to decide the tie in the 85th minute. Hayes turned away from Marvin Bartley and fired a long-range shot which initially looked harmless, but cannoned off Hibs defender Darren
McGregor's knee and spun inside the post as stranded goalkeeper Ofir Marciano looked on.
Hibs threw men forward and Marciano incredibly almost equalised deep into stoppage time but opposite number Joe Lewis produced an acrobatic save from his header following a corner.
Hibs boss Neil Lennon, whose side have already secured promotion back to the Premiership for next season, was asked what he made of the game to which he replied: "Rubbish... pathetic giving three goals away.
"You can't do that in a semi-final. We got it back to 2-2 playing the football I expected. I don't go for the gallant loser story, it just doesn't wash with me, not good enough.
"They got a huge slice of luck for the third goal, I can accept that, but the first two goals are unacceptable at any level of the game.
"You can't legislate for a centre-half playing a square ball to a centre forward and you can't legislate for breaking the wall and letting a free-kick go in at the near post, so tactically the game goes out of the window. It's decision-making," he added.
"They need to look at themselves, it's a semi-final, you need to play for 90 minutes or 120 minutes, not 60."
