 Media report |
| 12-Apr-1993, Glasgow Herald |
Falkirk victory fuels panic in race to avoid the drop… WITH the championship and UEFA Cup places all but decided, interest at the top of the premier division table is dwindling fast, but at the other end there could be some mighty tussles before the pair who will drop through the floorboards into the first division is settled. But I doubt if the contests to come will be as clean-cut and sporting as the one in which Falkirk snatched a glimpse of the escape tunnel by beating Partick Thistle 1-0 at Firhill. For a match of such importance, the absence of nastiness was a pleasant surprise, but the lack of urgency in the Thistle play was something of a shock to their supporters, not to mention the management. Falkirk, on the other hand, played with a commitment which matched their awareness that defeat would have meant the end of their tenure among the elite. If there was some jubilation in the Brockville ranks afterwards it was understandable. This win will send alarm waves halfway up the league as clubs who had begun to relax at the assumption of an Airdrie-Falkirk demotion at the end of the season realise that the gap between them and the bottom two is not unbridgeable.
Falkirk’s victory, allied to Airdrie’s draw with Aberdeen, means that exactly half the teams in the league can be considered involved in the relegation struggle with five games to go. That may be a significant comment on the state of the division. The gap between the good and the less good is getting wider. But there will be no time for such lofty analysis in the dressing rooms of Airdrie, Falkirk, Motherwell, Dundee, Hibernian, and Partick Thistle for the remainder of the season. For them it is on with the overalls and prepare to sweat. Falkirk did that on Saturday. Not renowned for their defensive qualities — or, to put it another way, the team who have lost more goals than anybody else in the division, 79 — the Brockville lads got it together well enough to keep Thistle from scoring the goal that would have virtually guaranteed their security in the premier division for another season. Whatever happens to Falkirk they can usually be relied upon to score themselves and, as both manager Jim Jefferies and defender Fraser Wishart pointed out, they are fourth best in the table if scoring is the only gauge. Only Rangers, Aberdeen, and Celtic have hit the net more often. Like Thistle, they managed to miss some great chances at Firhill, but they snapped up the one that mattered. Brian Rice, who had been, and continued to be, involved in most of the good things that Falkirk did, meandered past a couple of tackles before pushing the ball forward, where Greg Shaw tried a shot which deflected from a defender but landed in front of Eddie May, who knocked it over the line.
Rice undoubtedly was the star of the show. If he could be put on wheels he would be a colossal player. The ex-Hibs and Nottingham Forest man still passes the ball with his left foot with such class and precision that, at times, you can hear the gasps of admiration in the stand. He doesn’t have much of an accelerator, however, and at today’s manic pace, it is a sore miss. He is capable of marvellous things, none the less, and, as Falkirk face up to the desperate weeks ahead, Rice will be an asset few of their rivals will possess. A Martian arriving at Firhill — where else would he land? — would have been fooled into thinking Brian was the current Scotland captain, so classy and skilful was his play. Thistle had no-one on the same plane. But their honest artisans have taken them to the brink of success … for Thistle staying in the top division is success … and it is a pity that they chose the game against Falkirk as the one to have an off-day. Maybe they went into it thinking the job already had been done. Now they have to accept the consequences. Their run-in is paved with formidable hurdles. They still have to play Rangers (home and away), Aberdeen (h), Dundee United (a), Celtic (h), and Hibs (a). They might be hard pushed to get the one or two points required from that lot. As their assistant manager, Gerry Collins, put it: “Instead of being able to relax and enjoy our games against the big clubs, we have to buckle down and battle once again.”
Falkirk see the next game, against St Johnstone at Brockville, as the big one. Jefferies points out that, with Motherwell and Dundee meeting on the same day, his team could come out well if they beat the Perth side. Jefferies defends his team’s poor record at the back by pointing to the injuries which have kept out experienced men like Joe McLaughlin, John Hughes, and Crawford Baptie. In the circumstances, a young player like David Weir, who looks to have tremendous potential, has been given a tough education. The Falkirk manager acknowledged that victory was the only result acceptable at Firhill, otherwise the cause was lost. He and his players left Glasgow on Saturday night with the glint of men who believe they have found an escape route. Wishart reminded us of other reasons why Falkirk will play it for all they are worth from now on. “Apart from the importance staying up means to the club, there are a few players, myself included, whose contracts end in the summer. We are playing for our own future as well. That is why I would ask the fans to get behind us, especially against St Johnstone. If we beat them we really will be back in the race.” Mention should be made of both goalkeepers, Thistle’s Andy Murdoch and Ian Westwater, of Falkirk. In a game that was more open than anyone could have anticipated, they had to make some breathtaking saves to help their colleagues out. Each proved up to the task, and Westwater, I am sure, will allow the singling out of one Murdoch stop, a one-handed reflex save from Gary Lennox, as the most memorable.
Isaac English
Neil McKilligan
