TWO first-half penalties eased Aberdeen's path into the CIS Insurance Cup semi-final against Inverness Caledonian Thistle at Pittodrie last night, with Barry Nicholson scoring both and hitting a third goal into the bargain to maintain the home side's unbeaten record against their opponents.

Scott Severin, the Aberdeen captain, was a surprise absentee through injury, although Jamie Smith and Richie Byrne returned to the side following a period in the treatment room and Sone Aluko, on-loan from Birmingham City, was given his first start.

It was Smith, whose vibrancy has been missed in recent weeks as he recovered from a hamstring problem, who started the move which led to the opener in the ninth minute.

Smith's well-placed ball into the penalty area was gathered by Derek Young and as the midfielder wrong-footed Richard Hastings, his feet were whipped from under him by the Inverness defender and John Underhill, the referee, had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Barry Nicholson converted with aplomb.

The former Dunfermline player was offered a second chance to display his expertise from the penalty spot just 11 minutes later, this time after Stuart McCaffrey's tackle from behind on Lee Miller prevented the striker from shooting. Nicholson answered the call once more, scoring Aberdeen's fifth penalty goal in their last three home games.

Inverness had produced some reasonable play until that point and Ross Tokely's header at the back post from Barry Wilson's free-kick, should at least have found the target, with the defender in such close proximity to the goal.

There was little to commend the visitors' attacking play after that, at least not until five minutes before the interval when Russell Duncan unleashed a powerful long-range drive only for Jamie Langfield, the Aberdeen goalkeeper, to prove that he was still wide awake with a diving save to turn the ball past the post.

As if to reply to such impertinence by the men from the Highlands, Nicholson flashed an equally impressive shot from 25 yards close enough to the right-hand post of Michael Fraser, for the Inverness goalkeeper, to be concerned.

Fraser created his own talking point in the 44th minute, however, blundering badly to present Aberdeen with a third goal. His attempt to bring Grant Munro's high pass-back on to his chest went awry and Miller, closing in, won the loose ball and pumped it into the net from six yards.

The increased tempo from Inverness in the early part of the second half saw them produce impressive and quick-fire attacking moves. Jimmy Calderwood, the Aberdeen manager, would have been grateful for the three-goal cushion his side had, given the visitors' new-found vitality and the fact his own side are frequently guilty of switching off when they had a lead. The Aberdeen manager had his head in his hands when Dennis Wyness fired in a bullet of a shot from 15 yards which rose over the crossbar.

Wyness was, however, instrumental in setting up his side's 69th-minute goal as he capitalised on a Zander Diamond error in the area before slipping the ball to Graham Bayne who drove home.

With 11 minutes left, though, Nicholson claimed his hat-trick, finishing a well-worked move down the right with Chris Clark providing the low cross for his team-mate to finish and send their opponents on a sombre homeward journey to the Highlands.

Aberdeen Langfield; Hart, Diamond, Mair, Byrne; Young (Clark 29), Nicholson, McNamara, Aluko (Considine 72); Miller, Smith (Foster 59). Substitutes not used: Kelly, Macguire.

Inverness CT Fraser; Tokely, McCaffrey, Munro, Hastings; Cowie, Duncan, McBain (Morgan 79), Wilson (Rankin 79); Wyness, Bayne (Niculae 79). Booked Munro 72 Substitutes not used: Malkowski, Proctor.

Referee J Underhill.