Falkirk 1
Clydebank 2
League (Division 2)

Match Report

Revenge is sweet. But surely none can have been sweeter than this well-deserved win by the Bankies which, no doubt, laid to rest the memory of that 7-0 drubbing by the Bairns earlier in the season.

From the opening minutes, when Munro took advantage of a Gibson slip to carry the ball 20 yards before despatching it past the 'keeper, a shock result was on the cards.

The visitors, almost without exception, mastered the tricky pitch and generally controlled the game, while the home side slipped and fell crazily-and painfully!

Even second half, when Falkirk launched an all-out assault on the Bankies goal, they never seemed likely to save a point.

The Bairns' only goal was slipped home by Ferguson after Madden had failed to get a Miller lob. But Clydebank were back in the lead when Caskie picked up a Markie clearance and shot low into the net.

Match report written by Unknown (Clydebank Press)

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How the other side saw it
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The biggest danger to Falkirk's promotion aspirations this season may be neither Cowdenbeath, Queen of the South nor Arbroath. It could be the frosty weather!

Once again, the Bairns have "slipped up" on a bone-hard frozen pitch and it's plain that the present side – possibly the biggest team, physically speaking, Falkirk have had in years – does not relish the kind of going that saw them stumble to a shock defeat by Clydebank at Brockville on Saturday.

It was astonishing to think that in the corresponding League match at Kilbowie earlier in the season, the Bairns ran up a colossal 7-0 win. Such a score never looked on the cards here as this young Bankies team gave Falkirk a double lesson.

In the first half, they showed how to attack on a brick-hard surface, moving the ball around much more sweetly than the home side and showing far superior balance and control.

Then, after the interval, when the Bairns staged a really desperate rally for an equaliser, they showed even more skill and determination in the art of defending.

Fallon was a brilliant centre-half who hardly gave Andy Roxburgh a kick at the ball. It was the same at full-back where Mitchell and the quick-tackling Gray blotted out Jim Johnston and Wilson Hoggan. Young and Ferguson were dangerous only in snatches - and, ironically enough, the most effective home "attacker" was left-back George Miller.

George, a skipper inspired, played the game of his life as he fought for every ball, won it nearly every time - and drove on his colleagues by example, showing a skill and guts that made light of the tricky conditions.

It was his cross that produced Falkirk's only goal - but it was in the second half that he really stood out a mile with two superb headers that missed by inches and a glorious right-foot first-timer eight minutes from the end that merited an equaliser but which brought out an incredible save from ex-Celt Dick Madden,

While Markie and Gibson also played hard and well, there were simply not enough Millers in the home side, for most of the side looked quite unhappy on the frozen surface and they played accordingly.

The Bankies proved a real eye-opener and if this team can be kept together, the Steedman Brothers should be a real promotion prospect next season. They played as a team but also had individual stars galore in Gray, Ruddy, Fallon, O'Brien, Munro, Wilson and Caskie.

They made the perfect start when centre-forward Munro put them ahead in just 60 seconds. A long ball down the right wing bounced awkwardly and beat George Gibson Munro fastened on to it and ran 25 yards before left-footing a fierce drive past Stuart Rennie.

It took the Bairns until the 20th minute to equalise, Alex Ferguson jumping beautifully to nod a high Miller cross practically out of Madden's hands.

But the visitors took the lead again ten minutes from half-time and they never lost it. First-game senior Donnie Wilson swept over a hard cross which Miller did well to head out of Munro's path.

Alas for the homesters, however, the ball was snapped up by the left-winger Caskie, son of the old Rangers and Scotland star Jimmy Caskie - and his low shot, hit first-time from the edge of the box, sneaked in at the post as Rennie dived despairingly.

That ended the scoring, although there were plenty of near things, not all by the Falkirk attack.

Just before the break, Gregor Abel cleared a certain scoring try from Hay off the line – and on the hour mark, Munro missed the chance of the game when he shot too straight from an open position and allowed Rennie to deflect the ball away with his foot.

In 64 minutes, a Jim Johnston header was dropping in below the bar when Fallon popped up to head clear. Then four minutes later, Falkirk were denied a good penalty claim when Fergie went flying as he tried to round keeper Madden.

Robertson drove high over from a good position and just after Cousin replaced the listless Hoggan in 73 minutes, Roxburgh and Ferguson both missed a corner from the substitute practically under the bar.

Miller's two spectacular headers were topped by that wonder shot from the left-back in 82 minutes - and when Madden took off to fingertip it over the bar, every shattered home fan knew that the worst was now inevitable.

The question now rears its head - are Falkirk going to keep their best football for the holding ground and continue to disappoint on frozen pitches? For their own sake, and with the present freezing weather hardly on the way out, the answer had better be "No".

The Bairns must prove themselves to be adaptable on any surface. And they must also show that they can produce the same consistency at home that they have shown at away grounds this season - for, of course, the bulk of League games remaining are at Brockville.

Saturday's result was perhaps not critical - but it was sobering. Let's hope something was learned from it - to avoid repetition.

Match report written by Ken Waddell (Falkirk Herald)