Being brutally honest, this is the type of home game we should always be looking to win. Falkirk will probably do enough to stay in the SPL this year but they will be down near the bottom with Livingston and Dunfermline. They are still adjusting to playing Premier teams on a regular basis and they also helped us a great deal with their embarrassingly poor game plan.
So, whilst acknowledging that this match was rightly a home banker we can be pleased with the professionalism with which we did the job. We had made a few chances before we opened the scoring and Richie’s brace either side of half time finished the contest before the fifty-minute mark. The one concern about our early showing was our eagerness to hit long balls, seemingly without direction. It is true that Hamilton wins a lot in the air and Skippy can get behind the defence well but both players are capable of taking the ball to feet and bringing others into the game. If we do go route one – a tactic which does suit us at times – then whoever is playing the ball should at least think about it first. The Falkirk defence were poor for our second goal but Craigan’s long punt was not without direction – his pass and Richie’s run applied the pressure which made their defenders crack.
Jim Hamilton’s injury is a major worry for us as his performances have been superb this season. He did get off to a slow start with us – and perhaps his style of play invited critics – but if a newly signed striker had started with five goals in eight starts at the beginning of a season, he would be a hero already. Flipper has a magnificent scoring record and he was always likely to come good.
His injury will probably give Clarkson the chance of a start on Tuesday and it is pleasing to see David playing well again. He has not quite found the form from two seasons ago yet but after a poor spell he is looking lively. Another goal would do wonders for his confidence and one can only curse the Falkirk goalie for the excellent save he made in the last minute on Saturday – one more goal couldn’t have hurt that much more surely!
We have had a tendency recently to go on winning and losing runs and with lower league opponents mid-week before another home game on Saturday we are in a position to kick start our season now. Fingers crossed for another good performance at Love Street!