Match Report

Saturday, 6th January, 2024

by Lois Smillie

FALKIRK 1-0 QUEEN OF THE SOUTH

Falkirk hosted Queen of the South on Saturday in their most recent Cinch League One fixture. One change was made from last week's 5-0 win against Stirling Albion, as Nicky Hogarth handed the gloves over to Sam Long.

The first half saw both teams struggling to open the scoring as neither could quite break the barrier that the oppositions defence had formed. The 11th minute would see Falkirk's first chance at a goal with Brad Spencer taking a strike which was brilliantly saved by goalkeeper Harry Stone, punching the ball out of the box and clear of any danger.

It wouldn't be until the 40th minute that Falkirk would have another chance to score. Calvin Miller found his way down the wing passing through the defence before making a cross into the box which was aimed for Liam Henderson, however Henderson was unable to get to the ball in time and play returned to the hands of Queen of the South.

The second half started off with a bang, as 30 seconds into the match Aidan Nesbitt would score the first and only goal. The cross from Calvin Miller was met by Ross MacIver who then headed it on to Nesbitt. With a right-footed strike Nesbitt found the bottom right corner to open the scoring for the Bairns.

From there it was only up for the Bairns as Calvin Miller began to weave his way in and out of the Queen of the South defence in an attempt to double scoring. Unfortunately his shot dipped just over the bar and Falkirk had to start again. Two minutes later Coll Donaldson found himself trying to replicate his recent two goals with a strike from far out but his efforts saw the goal fly wide of the post.

The 80th minute saw the first substitutions for Falkirk, one of which included January signing Ryan Shanley who made his debut as he replaced Ross MacIver. MacIver was joined by Callumn Morrison and Calvin Miller, who made way for Alfredo Agyeman and Ethan Ross.

After four minutes of added time, referee Chris Fordyce blew the whistle for full time. This makes it a record-breaking 24 games unbeaten for Falkirk and we now stand 8 points clear at the top of the League One table.

Join us on Tuesday night as we welcome Cove Rangers to the Falkirk Stadium to play the fixture originally postponed due to the weather.

FALKIRK LINE-UP: Sam Long, Tom Lang, Leon McCann, Liam Henderson, Coll Donaldson, Callumn Morrison (sub Alfredo Agyeman), Brad Spencer, Aidan Nesbitt (sub Gary Oliver), Finn Yeats (sub Layton Bisland), Ross MacIver (sub Ryan Shanley), Calvin Miller (sub Ethan Ross).

FALKIRK BENCH: Nicky Hogarth, Stephen McGinn, Jordan Allan, Sean Mackie.

QUEEN OF THE SOUTH LINE-UP: Harry Stone, Cameron Logan, Efe Ambrose, Kyle McClelland, Oscar MacIntyre, Paul McKay, Josh Todd (sub Harvey Walker), Alexander Ferguson, Craig McGuffie (sub Lee Connelly), Jacob Hutchinson (sub Kyle Doherty), Lewis Gibson (sub Kieran McKechnie).

QUEEN OF THE SOUTH BENCH: Gordon Botterill, Ben Johnstone, Ross Irving, Toby Raggett, Finlay Kennedy