Hibs suffered more disappointment at Hampden as they crashed to a 1-0 defeat against St Johnstone on Saturday.
A first half strike by Shaun Rooney was enough to take the cup back to Perth but it was a really disappointing effort from Hibs.
The Easter Road side struggled to get out of first gear throughout the game and couldn't even force a real save from Zander Clark throughout the match.
It was a sign of their different efforts when Callum Booth made two brilliant tackles to send David Wotherspoon down the left and he picked out Rooney at the back post.
Josh Doig was no match for him and Rooney rose highest to head into the back of the net.
Saints could have doubled their advantage too when Ryan Porteous made a huge blunder to allow Chris Kane to race through, and Paul McGinn pulled him down.
Matt Macey made an incredible double stop from Glenn Middleton's penalty and Kane's rebound but Hibs couldn't find a way back into it.
Hampden heartache again
It's another piece of Hampden heartache for Hibs as St Johnstone came out on top. It's the third time at Hampden this season that the Hibees had been defeated and you could see it coming from early on.
It's a bit of a worry now that Hibs continue to lose these big games under Jack Ross and he'll be concerned by that too.
2016 was the highlight of a lot of Hibs fans footballing lives and today would have been another success but it ended in disappointment.
The good news is that no fans were inside the stadium but there was a real lack of quality from the Easter Road men at Hampden.
Attacking struggles
The Hibs attack really struggled to get into the game and Zander Clark had very few saves to make. The Saints defence of Jason Gordon, Liam Kerr and Jamie McCart dealt brilliantly with Kevin Nisbet and Christian Doidge.
There was no cutting edge from the Hibs midfield and the pace of Martin Boyle was stopped by the impressive Hibs defence where Callum Booth put in a great performance at left back.
With Nisbet and Doidge you'd expect chances to score but they just couldn't get going.
Fans were missed
There was really no atmosphere inside Hampden with no fans and you have to wonder if things would have been different with plenty of Hibs fans throughout the stadium.
Ryan Porteous described it as stupid earlier in the week and it's hard to disagree with him but it can't be used as an excuse by the Hibees.
A real shame that there was nobody inside and it would have made it more of a showpiece.
