Falkirk made a great start to the match against Perthshire when they opened
the scoring within 5 minutes from their only penalty corner of the half. The
move was started and finished by Stephen Sutton, as he expertly deflected Michael
Watson's return pass into the bottom corner. Jonny Anderson almost added to
his treble from the previous game when he was sent through on goal, but his
progress was halted by the Perthshire keeper. Falkirk should have doubled their
lead as Watson broke into the box down the right wing, but the keeper slid out
to block his cross just as Jonny Anderson was about to strike. Some fine build
up play from Scott Wylie in the right back berth gave Falkirk the impetus going
forward, but the final pass and a series of blocks from the visiting defence
prevented the lead from increasing before the break. Perthshire managed to put
together a spell of possession at the start of the second half, but a combination
of good saves from Scott Morrison and a strong defence kept the home side ahead.
The points were secured with 10 minutes to go after a Perthshire attack was
stopped and James Robertson broke through on goal. After calmly rounding the
keeper, he unselfishly squared to club captain Douglas Nicol to fire the ball
past the defender on the line from a couple of yards. In the final minute, a
fine reverse stick challenge from Paul Paton set the ball rolling for Falkirk's
third goal. After making the challenge on the half way line, Paton threaded
a pass through to Jonny Anderson at the top of the box. Although the keeper
did well to block the initial shot, the rebound fell to Watson on the left,
where he steadied himself, and drilled a low shot back across the goal, and
just under the despairing dive of the Perthshire goalie.
