UP NEXT: DUNDEE (H)

Up next for The Bairns is a return to The Falkirk Stadium as we host Dundee in Matchday Nine of the William Hill Championship.

Kick-off is at 3pm, Saturday 25th October.

MATCH PREVIEW

The Bairns got back to winning ways last Saturday and will be looking to keep that going with back-to-back wins.

Saturday was a bit of a mixed bag but, ultimately, nobody of a Falkirk persuasion cared an awful lot as we left Fir Park with all three points.

Motherwell started the game very strongly, creating several clear-cut chances in the first 45. Falkirk looked a bit off the pace, and Motherwell capitalised on that throwing wave after wave of attacks at The Bairns’ back-line. After 17 minutes of resisting the onslaught, the home side broke through, or so they thought. A fast, flowing move saw Ibrahim Said pick up the ball, skip past a couple of Falkirk players, and place the ball past Scott Bain, into the back of the net. It was a brilliantly taken goal, but in stepped VAR and after a lengthy check, the goal was ruled out for a foul on Brad Spencer in the build-up.

The hosts didn’t let it faze them and they kept applying pressure. It paid off just five minutes later when another well-worked move resulted in Tawanda Maswanhise putting the ball right into the top corner for his fourth league goal of the season.

Despite the home side having several more attempts at goal, Falkirk managed to hold on until half-time, going into the break just a goal down. When The Bairns came back out for the second half, they looked a different side, taking the game to Motherwell.

The chances started coming for Falkirk and they managed to score the equaliser in the 57th minute with an extremely well worked goal. Ethan Williams delivered a great cross from deep on the right-hand side, which found Ross MacIver in the box. The striker, unselfishly, cushioned the ball to Calvin Miller, who showed excellent composure to slot the ball through the goalkeeper’s legs.

Although The Bairns were in the ascendancy, Motherwell still posed a threat. They had another goal disallowed in the 74th minute. Stephen O’Donnell’s ball forward found Maswanhise, whose shot was saved by Bain. The ball deflected to Apostolos Stamatelopoulos, who tapped the ball into the empty net, but not before it had bounced up to strike his hand twice.

Five minutes later, Falkirk scored the winner. Goalscorer Calvin Miller had made way for Scott Arfield, who had only been on the field for five minutes before taking his first chance. This time it was Alfredo Agyeman with the cross from the right wing. The ball was headed up and into the path of Arfield, who made no mistake with his trademark volley into the bottom corner, sending the away fans in the upper tier into hysterics.

In such a tight league, every point is vital, and three points moved Falkirk up to eighth, as Motherwell dropped down to 10th.

After such a good win, Falkirk were hoping that Celtic could win their match against Dundee on Sunday, which would give The Bairns a bit of a gap between them and this weekend’s visitors.

Against the odds though, Dundee caused the upset of the weekend, beating last season’s champions at Den’s Park. Despite having 82% of the ball, and a 2.5 xG with 23 shots, Celtic fell to a 2-0 defeat. Clark Robertson scored the opener for the home side, before Cameron Carter-Vickers turned the ball into his own net just before the break. The visitors couldn’t get a goal back despite all their second half efforts.

The result leaves Celtic five points behind league leaders Hearts, and sees Dundee move up to ninth, level on points with Falkirk, but having played one more game. Our game in hand take place next Wednesday against Celtic at Celtic Park.