Falkirk fell short to a dominant Hibs performance as David Gray’s side cruised to a 3-1 win at The Falkirk Stadium.
A nightmare start Falkirk saw Jordan Obita hang up a dangerous corner to the back post, Josh Campbell climbed the highest and nodded it past Nicky Hogarth to give the visitors a vital opener in FK2 with just three minutes gone.
Falkirk responded well and hit back with a handful of chances of their own.
Just five minutes after the opener, Filip Lissah came inches from putting it on a plate for Barney Stewart as he caused panic among the Hibs defence down the right wing before flashing it across the box, the Falkirk striker threw himself at it but it was just out of reach.
Kyrell Wilson was next to cause the visitors issues on the right as he skipped by Obita before finding Calvin Miller at the back post; the winger wasn’t expecting it though, which was displayed in his strike as he didn’t catch it cleanly.
The visitors doubled their lead soon after, courtesy of the head of Campbell once more. Perhaps it was against the run of play, but it didn’t bother Gray’s side. This time, it was a cross from the other side, as Martin Boyle’s delivery found an unchallenged Campbell who made no mistake from close range.
Hibernian took control from there and came close to finding a third on a few occasions as Hogarth was kept busy in the Falkirk goal.
The provider became the scorer for Hibs’ eventual third goal, as a Felix Passlack cross from the right wing made it all the way to Obita, who made a late run into the Falkirk box before thundering a powerful strike past Hogarth five minutes from the interval.
It was a disappointing half for The Bairns as poor defending ultimately cost them, but it was delight for Gray’s side who looked to have killed the game with the second half still to play.
The second period was pretty end-to-end until the final twenty minutes, with neither side able to carve out many goalscoring chances.
Ben Broggio pulled one back for The Bairns as the game was beginning to fizzle out, and he did so in spectacular fashion as he picked it up on the edge of the area before firing a powerful strike past Raphael Sallinger in the Hibs net.
Despite the lifeline, it seemed to be too little too late for Falkirk. A few more half chances came and went, with Ethan Ross’s header being the closest of the lot as it flew agonisingly wide of the post. There was heaps of late pressure, but Hibernian held firm to see out a vital win at The Falkirk Stadium.
Teams
Falkirk Starting XI: Nicky Hogarth, Leon McCann, Brad Spencer ©, Finn Yeats, Lewis Neilson, Barney Stewart, Connor Allan, Dylan Tait, Kyrell Wilson, Filip Lissah, Calvin Miller.
Substitutes: Jamie Sneddon, Liam Henderson, Coll Donaldson, Brian Graham, Ross MacIver, Ben Broggio (72’), Henry Cartwright, Ethan Ross, Ben Parkinson.
Hibernian Starting XI: Raphael Sallinger, Grant Hanley, Warren O’Hora, Martin Boyle ©, Miguel Chaiwa, Jack Iredale, Jordan Obita (40’), Daniel Barlaser, Felix Passlack, Josh Campbell (3’, 20’), Owen Elding.
Substitutes: Jordan Smith, Joe Newell, Chris Cadden, Nicky Cadden, Kanayo Megwa, Kai Andrews, Munashe Garananga, Dane Scarlett, Ante Suto.
Referee: Ryan Lee
Assistant Referees: Graeme Stewart and Dougie Potter
Fourth Official: Josh Hay
Attendance: 7,644
