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| Jim Jefferies |  |
John Lambie |  |
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49y, 10m, 28d | |||
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There was a terrific atmosphere and the kick-off had to be delayed to let the near-capacity 10,000+ crowd in. Thistle saw the 1st action and a Tierney effort went wide. Falkirk hit back with a free-kick that was well saved by Duncan but nothing came from the resulting corner. Forceful play by Thistle saw their 1st corner. Marshall flapped at it but their 2nd corner came to nothing. Roche had a fine effort from 25 yards that flew just wide. Falkirk's response was another long-range effort from Taylor that was well saved. Falkirk took the lead following a magnificent tackle by Duffy to end a mazy run by Taylor inside the box but the resulting corner came over and was headed in by McGivern (36). 1-0. Future-JAG Taylor was enjoying lots of space in midfield and was heavily involved as Falkirk began to get the upper hand but Thistle soon enjoyed more pressure. Buckley was fouled in the box - or appeared to be. Tempers rose as Falkirk claimed he had taken a dive. DUFFY scored with the penalty (just - the ball came off the underside of the bar) to put Thistle back level within a few minutes of Falkirk's goal. With h-t approaching Law and Stainrod clashed on the touchline. After consultation with the linesman Stainrod was booked for retaliation but Law was red-carded for the original offence. Lambie was incensed and had to be restrained by Collins as Law ran down the tunnel. Clearly, the advantage was with Falkirk for the 2nd half. Thistle reorganised and moved Elliot to replace Law but he would be missed up front where he had been causing the Falkirk problems. On 47 mins Falkirk went ahead when a cross was controlled and shot home on the volley from the edge of the box by McGivern. 2-1. Thistle fought back however. If anything, the tempo increased and the tackles got meatier. A cross by McGlashan was met by Campbell whose glancing header was turned past for a fruitless corner via the post then a superb dribble by Elliot resulted in a shot on the angle rebounding off the post and McGLASHAN, rushing in, shinned the ball over the line (60). 2-2. Falkirk hit back with a long-range effort by Taylor but Duncan saved comfortably then, against all the odds, things got even better. A long ball up the line from Robertson was chased by Buckley. He evaded two defenders and slid the ball into the path of ROCHE who shot low and hard into the keeper's right hand corner from the edge of the “D”. The 10 men were ahead for the first time. 2-3. Back came Falkirk and Duncan was relieved to see a long-range effort by Stainrod whiz narrowly past then a poor clearance back into the danger zone by Roche set up McQueen but he shot over from 20 yards. As time ticked away inevitably the home side pushed Thistle back. In the last 10 minutes McGovern ploughed a lone furrow up front as Thistle tried to ease the pressure by finding him with long balls out of defence. A rash tackle by Tierney resulted in a free-kick that was only half cleared but the loose ball was fired wide by Taylor. On 85 minutes Thistle survived a penalty claim when Stainrod appeared to be pushed in the box. The ball was cleared for a corner and when the kick came over future-JAG McWilliams found a yard of space in the 6-yard box to head in the equaliser. 3-3. Campbell went on a lung-bursting run from inside his own half, shrugging off defenders, but he was eventually crowded out. The ball was returned down field and McWilliams unleashed a fierce 30 yarder. Duncan, in two minds, decide to try and save the shot rather that tip it over for a corner. The ball came to him more quickly than he realised and by the time he had caught it, it had gone over the line. TV replay showed the linesman got it right. A 4th goal a minute later turned the rousing cup-tie around but Thistle's 10 men took a lot of credit from the game. There was even a mini pitch invasion by some Thistle fans at the final whistle. It was Falkirk's only win against Thistle in 6 attempts this season. They won the league and were promoted. |
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