NEXT STOP: DUNFERMLINE ATHLETIC (H)

The Navy Blue Train pulls back into The Falkirk Stadium this Saturday as we take on Dunfermline Athletic for the final time this season.

Kick-off is at 3pm, Saturday 8th March.The Bairns return to action this Saturday as we take on Dunfermline Athletic for the fourth and final time this season.

The last time the two sides met was a thrilling six-goal encounter that finished all square. Falkirk were the better side at East End Park back in December, but two penalties and a last gasp equaliser from a corner kick saw the points shared, and The Bairns will want to make sure they take all three points this time around to make it 10 points from a possible 12 taken from The Pars this season.

Falkirk head into Saturday’s match on the back of a good win against Airdrieonians on Tuesday night. The rescheduled game came as Airdrie found some form, having gone five league games unbeaten prior to last Saturday when they fell to their first league defeat since mid January, thanks to Ayr United.

The Excelsior has been a tough place for Falkirk to go over the years, but this time The Bairns got off to a good start, managing to get in front after just nine minutes. Unfortunately for the home side, it was their own defender Aidan Wilson who headed the ball into his own net from a Brad Spencer corner.

The hosts played some nice football but lacked any end product, and Falkirk had to weather a storm as Airdrie pushed for an equaliser. Despite a good period of play from Airdrie, it was Falkirk who had the ball in the net for a second time in the 39th minute and it was the result of another corner kick. This time, Spencer played it short before receiving the ball back from Miller. The stand-in captain hit the ball first time, and his effort from near the corner flag caught the Airdrieonians ‘keeper out, curling straight into the top corner.

Airdrie’s race was ran in the second half, and Falkirk controlled the rest of the game. They completed the scoring in the 77th minute, when substitute Barney Stewart scored his first professional goal since joining permanently from Heriott Watt University. The big striker leapt above Kieran Wright in the Airdrie goal to nod home a Calvin Miller cross.

Our opponent’s this weekend have been on a poor run of form, with just one win in their last six games in all competitions. Despite their form, The Pars also go into Saturday’s game on the back of a win, having beaten Greenock Morton at home last weekend. The home side found themselves behind after 33 minutes thanks to an unorthodox Owen Moffat goal, as the midfielder’s cross in-swinging cross from the left wing was missed by everyone and found the back of the net. The game sprang to life in the second half, and Dunfermline grabbed the equaliser on the hour mark through Chris Kane. Seven minutes after equalising, Dunfermline found themselves down to 10 men. With Morton seemingly through on goal, Pars captain, Kyle Benedictus, made a last ditch tackle, appearing to take the ball. The referee saw differently though, showing the defender a red card, which has since been rescinded.

Despite being down to 10 men, it was Dunfermline who scored the winning goal. Some poor defending from the Morton backline allowed Chris Kane to take the ball down at the edge of the box before firing past the goalkeeper in the 79th minute.

The three points wasn’t enough to move Dunfermline out of ninth spot, though, sitting one point being Hamilton Accies, and 10 ahead of Airdrieonians.