Kai Watson: Falkirk are on FIRE!
As we go into the second international break of the season John McGlynn’s Falkirk currently sit in third place in the Scottish Premiership.
After losing to Dundee on October 10th they have gone on an incredible five match winning streak.
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It started off with an impressive 2-1 away win at Easter Road in which Jacob Murrell, now the joint top scorer in the league, scored a double before Owen Elding pulled one back. That was followed up the next week with a 3-0 home win over Kilmarnock which included two OGs and another Jacob Murrell goal.
Next up was a midweek trip to Pittodrie, which no team looks forward to, and it was a pretty even game. Ben Krauhaus came off the bench to score the winner as the Bairns made it three wins on the spin and the second clean sheet in a row.
Falkirk haven’t managed a win against any of the Old Firm since returning to the league last season and welcomed Celtic to the Falkirk Stadium after their previous three wins. I don’t think anyone would have predicted Falkirk to keep their third clean sheet in a row and make it four wins from four.
However, that is exactly what happened, Celtic had chances but Falkirk scored two really well worked goals, albeit the first was courtesy of a terrible Carter-Vickers error. The second was a brilliantly worked goal down the left with a great interchange between Scott Tanser and Owen Eames in which the left back eventually tucked the ball into the corner beyond Sam Johnstone.
This was the result that made a lot of people sit up and pay attention to John McGlynn’s team, not only had they beaten Celtic but they had also gone to Easter Road and Pittodrie and came away with three points. That made it four wins in a row with one goal conceded and eight scored, superb stuff.
The next result, however, reached more than just fans in Scotland as they travelled to Tynecastle for another difficult away fixture. Aberdeen away, into Celtic at home and Hearts away is a really tough run, particularly playing against last season's top two, two games in a row.
Even the most confident Falkirk fan would have been nervous for this one and the most optimistic would never have guessed how it would turn out. Just four minutes in, Reus made a smart save from Murrell but Barbrook was on hand to steer the ball beyond the Dutchman and into the corner.
It was 2-0 in the 17th minute as Hearts piled bodies forward, a Dhanda shot deflected and the ball was worked to Brad Spencer who drove forward before playing in Eames who was calm when one on one. It got even worse for the home side in the 33rd minute after Murrell directed a Melniks back where it came from and into the corner.
The fourth came from an unlikely source, especially with the quality of the goal, from a corner the ball broke to Liam Henderson inside the box who worked it into his left and curled a shot into the far corner.
4-0 AT HALF TIME.
Whatever was said by Wouter Vrancken at half-time absolutely didn’t work as Ethan Ross broke away at the start of the second half and played in Murrell who finished brilliantly to make it 5-0 in the 47th minute, incredible!
Hearts did respond with a tidy Guendouz finish and a Braga penalty but it was Falkirk’s day and they made everyone pay attention!
They are flying, playing good football and working hard on and off the ball. Falkirk are just an incredibly well coached team under John McGlynn and it’s so good to see.
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