
Falkirk entertained a Greenock side that had only lost 4 games this season in National 2, and were not helped by the absence of 4 of their starting 11. Making up the numbers with young players from the lower reaches of the club, what Falkirk lacked in experience, they made up for with teamwork and effort. Despite almost conceding a goal within seconds of the start, Falkirk put together a few good moves that saw them have a lot of possession, without really troubling the Greenock goal. The two best chances for Falkirk were when Arthur Robertson was fouled trying to round the keeper, and a Watson deflection from a Ferguson cross that went over the bar. With Scott Morrison keeping his goal intact, the teams were level at the break. Distinctly rattled at not managing to score against their lesser opponents, Greenock came out quickly at the start of the second half, with only a remarkable reaction save from Morrison keeping them out. Greenock did take the lead minutes later, poor defending leading to an easy finish for the Greenock forward, but Falkirk went up the park and equalised, Watson converting Kevin Russell's precise through ball. Falkirk's task could have been made easier if either of the umpires had seen the Greenock goalkeeper strike the Falkirk captain with his stick after the goal, but, both "missed" the incident, and instead of playing the remainder of the game with ten men and a kicking back, Greenock capitalised on their good fortune to score the winner from a penalty corner with 3 minutes to go. As a result, Falkirk missed out on their best chance in years to reclaim the Scottish Cup last won over 20 years ago, but were encouraged by the performances of Jonathon Kellar, Russell Heron and Jamie Stoddart, making his 1st team debut.
Falkirk GHG
VI 4
Grangemouth Ladies/ Falkirk GHG 1
This end of season friendly on the Bathgate Astroturf saw a team of schoolboys from Graeme and Grangemouth High Schools meet a squad of Falkirk's adults playing alongside some of the young ladies from the Grangemouth Club. Playing a good interpassing game, there was no scoring at the break, but despite much pressure it was nearly time before the younger side opened their account, with scores by Scott Coventry, Jonathan Nugent and Christopher Anderson. John Gow came close for the opposition with a well struck shot just narrowly wide of the post before Derek Morrison hit the backboards with a good hit, for a consolation score.
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