Match reports for 23/2/08

Falkirk GHG 4
Giffnock 1

There was little chance of this top of the table clash finishing goalless, as the last 7 meetings between these teams had produced 54 goals, and Giffnock had also been averaging 5 goals a game so far this season. Falkirk's worst performance of the season had coincided with the teams last meeting, where a woeful display saw Giffnock take the honours with a thumping 7-3 win. However, that game aside, the Falkirk defence has been the best in the league, only conceding 13 goals in their other 10 games, so something was going to have to give between the sides this time. Falkirk lost the toss, and were invited to play with the wind at their backs in the first half. The home side dominated from the first whistle, but were unable to make the early pressure count, before Giffnock managed to grab a foothold in the match and exert some pressure of their own. The opening goal came from the first penalty corner of the match, Michael Watson shifting the ball to the right and firing past the static keeper. The lead was soon doubled when Jonny Anderson was denied by the keeper, but Douglas Nicol followed up to shoot home from the top of the box. Falkirk's third arrived minutes later, Nicol's pass released Watson behind the Giffnock defence, and his cutback was met by Anderson, who's goalbound shot was illegally kicked off the line. Stafford Dickson made amends for last weeks miss with a confident conversion of the penalty. Solid defending from the home side saw them take a clean sheet into the break, and Falkirk could have gone further ahead at the start of the second half had Watson been able to connect with Nicol's through pass. Giffnock began to dominate proceedings after this, and pulled a goal back after intercepting a poor pass out of defence. The visitors were virtually camped in the Falkirk half at this point, and thought they'd pulled another goal back from a penalty corner flick, only for Falkirk captain James Moran to produce a mid-air block on the line. This may well have been the turning point in the match, as a second goal for Giffnock could have seen Falkirk collapse at this point, but the home side hauled themselves back up the park to take some of the strain off the defence, and sealed the match from another penalty corner which Watson converted for his second of the match. Falkirk remain in second place, but have exorcised some demons from the last meeting by keeping the Giffnock attack at bay, and with the gap now down to 3 points, have kept themselves in the title race for now.

Inverleith B 1
Falkirk GHG III 2

The month of February has been particularly kind to the 3rd XI. With 3 victories in a row during the month, the Falkirk side travelled to Saughton looking to increase their winning run against Inverleith, the bottom team in the division. The first duty of the afternoon however, was to offer congratulations to John Russell, one of the 3rd XI’s longest serving players, who became a grandfather during the week. However, his pipe and slippers were put on hold for the time being as he made the short journey with the squad. The Falkirk side were however without Dougie Smith, Stephen Macdonald or Robert Spekman but were very pleased to welcome back Ross Anderson into the side.

This game came with added intrigue with Craig Malcolm in the Falkirk goals lining up against his son, who plays for Inverleith. The match got off to an excellent start for Falkirk, with the visitors gaining much of the early possession and Iain Cameron came close to opening the scoring when he his well hit shot narrowly sailed over the cross-bar. He was to find more luck shortly after, when a well worked move involving John Russell and Ross Dickson found Cameron in space and the Falkirk striker powered a first-time hit into the bottom corner to open the scoring. Falkirk looked the more dangerous and John Russell came close to providing a fine assist when he ran half the length of the pitch on his back stick before slipping a pass to Ross Anderson. Anderson was forced out wide by the defender and his shot narrowly missed the target. In defence Falkirk looked solid, with Danny Gibney continuing at sweeper and having an immense game, preventing Inverleith from having many clear cut chances. On the one occasion Inverleith did manage to create a chance, Craig Malcolm was more than equal, with a good low save. As the half wore on, Ross Anderson was denied by an excellent save from the Inverleith goalkeeper.

The second half couldn’t have started better for Falkirk, when they quickly doubled their lead. The architect of the goal was young Ewan Jeffrey, last weekends goal hero, who once again showed his unbelievable potential. He picked up the ball at the half way line and ran on the back stick, beating two defenders before hitting the by-line and cutting the ball across the face of goal to the waiting Ross Anderson, who used his physique to hold off the defender before slotting home. Anderson was then to be denied by another excellent save from the Inverleith keeper, who got his toe to a goalbound shot. Shortly after, Gibney came close at a penalty corner with narrowly sailed wide. With the game seemingly dead and buried, Inverleith seemed to lift their performance and scored with a some-what fortuitous penalty corner ensuring a nervous last 10 minutes for the Falkirk side. However, the defence, lead by the outstanding Gibney, never looked like conceding another goal and the 3rd XI held on for another excellent win. It was particularly pleasing to see youngsters Ewan Jeffrey, Ross Dickson and Alan McDonald all playing so well and all developing into outstanding hockey players. It was also a particularly sweet afternoon for Malcolm-senior as he showed he can still teach his son a few lessons!

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