Stewarts Melville registered their first national league win against Falkirk
after a poor display by the home side. Falkirk opened the scoring when Stafford
Dickson's flick from the back found Michael Watson on halfway. A quick interchange
of passes with Gordon Anderson saw the Falkirk forwards slice through the visiting
defence, and enabled Watson to score from close range. ESM equalised just before
half time, after a misplaced pass allowed the visitors to run half the length
of the field and convert the resulting cross at the near post. Falkirk had chances
to retake the lead in the second half from a couple of penalty corners, but
Arthur Robertson's effort was blocked by the visiting keeper, and Scott Wylie's
shot missed at the near post. ESM's winning strike came from a penalty corner,
scoring from close range after the initial strike had been deflected by the
defence. Both sides were reduced to 10 late on after separate incidents, but
it was the poor display of the home side over the 70 minutes that contributed
to the loss.
