HibERNIAN paid the price as the personal midfield feud between Steven Whittaker and Aberdeen’s star man Lewis Ferguson hit the visitors hard and left them struggling with 10 men for 35 second-half minutes as the Dons swept to victory.

Whittaker, already shown a yellow card for a first-half foul on Ferguson, was handed a second caution 10 minutes after the interval as he scythed his rival to the ground in a needlessly robust challenge.

It left his side, ahead at that point courtesy of Christian Doidge’s 39th-minute opener and looking the better outfit, severely penalised and the Reds went on to crush their opponents with three strikes from an Adam Jackson own goal, an Andrew Considine close-range effort and a thunderbolt from Curtis Main.

The win left Aberdeen just a point behind third-place Motherwell in the battle for Europa League football this summer but left Hibernian crushed and questioned their ability to claim a place in the top six at the end of the campaign.

They currently sit in that position but face St Johnstone, one point behind and breathing down their necks, at Easter Road on Saturday.

Jack Ross, the Hibees manager, was predictably disgruntled over Whittaker’s ordering off.

“The second yellow card one looked like a caution to me,” he said. “The first one possibly. But there is an inconsistency over why yellow cards are awarded that I can’t get my head around.

“I’m not arguing with the ones given to Steven, but I might have a case to argue with some of the ones that weren’t given over the course of the game.

“It turned the game because I thought prior to that we were the better team.”

They were, indeed, and it took two outstanding saves from Joe Lewis to prevent the visitors from going in at the break in control of the game.

The first, an astonishing stop from Doidge’s header which was touched on to the post and dropped on the goal-line before being cleared, was followed by the deployment of his right boot to prevent Jamie Gullan from making capital from his one-on-one with the Reds’ captain.

Certainly, the desire from each set of players to emerge with a win was palpable and when Scott Allan’s perfectly-weighted pass to Doidge afforded him a run-in on goal, the Welsh striker avoided Lewis and stroked the ball home on the angle for the opener in 39 minutes. But while the visitors looked as lively after the break, as would have been expected, Ross’s plans took a knock with Whittaker’s early trip to the changing room.

Inevitable personnel and tactical changes followed but when Niall McGinn’s teasing cross from the left dropped in front of Ofir Marciano, the Dons found an unlikely scorer as Hibs defender Adam Jackson helped the ball over the line in the 64th minute.

Two minutes later, the hosts cashed-in on their manpower advantage as the pressed for the winner. Yet another cross into the Hibs area found a hesitant Marciano and defender Andrew Considine took full advantage to fire the ball home from close range.

There was no way back for the Hibees and Main ‘s 83rd minute strike from the centre of the penalty area was too powerful to be stopped and the points Aberdeen need to retain an interest in finishing the season in third place were secured.

Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes praised his team’s second half performance as they filleted opposition that spent it chasing shadows, while Ferguson continued to make his presence felt in the middle of the pitch where he shone.

He complained, however, that the Dons were not awarded two penalty kicks, claiming Considine was dragged to ground by the neck and that Ferguson was felled in the area by Greg Docherty. He had a point.

“The intelligence of the team was what impressed me,” he insisted. “We carried a threat in the wider areas, got pressure in the box and I’m delighted to win the game.

“We have got ourselves in this situation due to inconsistency and if we can mirror what we’ve done and keep winning the next game [against Motherwell on Friday night] will become just as important.”