Match Report

Sunday, 1st February, 2009

by Iain Collin

Falkirk 1 - 0 Aberdeen: Relegation worries put on hold for now as Bairns buck a long losing trend

FALKIRK bucked almost 15 years of history to earn a first win over Aberdeen since 1994 and ease relegation worries.

Michael Higdon was the match-winner for the Bairns shortly after the interval on an afternoon which will have lifted the mounting pressure off the shoulders of manager John Hughes.

The omens weren't good for Falkirk coming into this match. If Tuesday night's capitulation to Rangers at Hampden in the Co-operative Insurance Cup semi-final and their lowly second-bottom spot in the SPL table weren't enough to depress the home following, their team's record against the Dons would have done the job.

No wins in any competition in a decade and a half and only two successes in their last 46 encounters, coupled with Aberdeen's recent successes against the Old Firm, didn't suggest an afternoon of optimism for the home side. Yet the win will have given them hope they can lift themselves away from trouble.

"I'm pleased for the boys," said Hughes. "We showed great resilience and great character to go and get the monkey off our backs. It was the first time we've beaten Aberdeen since we came into the SPL and it was a good time to do it."

The nerves associated with Falkirk's battle for Premier League survival were clearly evident during an opening spell in which neither side could find any sort of rhythm but Falkirk found their's to greater effect throughout.

Again, it was the accuracy of Charlie Mulgrew's set-piece deliveries which provided Aberdeen with their best threat, with only Arnau Riera's clearance off the line preventing Scott Severin from scoring after the former Celtic full-back had caused havoc with his 23rd-minute corner.

Six minutes later, from another Mulgrew corner, it was team-mate Darren Mackie who performed the goal-line duties as he inadvertently blocked Severin's header from reaching the net. Seconds earlier, Mackie had himself been repelled by Falkirk keeper Dani Mallo, who would be happy with his contribution on his home debut.

With recent signing Steven Pressley providing the leadership and experience which prompted Hughes to prolong his SPL career, the home side were not without opportunities of their own and Higdon and Steve Lovell went close in an encouraging end to the half.

The start to the second period proved even better, however, as the home side took the lead. Lovell fed strike partner Higdon in the inside-left channel and the burly Englishman threw all his weight behind a left-foot drive which arrowed its way into Jamie Langfield's top corner.

Aberdeen huffed and puffed thereafter but it was Falkirk who came closest to a second as Lovell's lob slipped agonisingly past and Dons manager Jimmy Calderwood confessed his side had been well below par. "We had too many players not playing to their own standards," he moaned. "There weren't many players who got above a five and that's not good enough for Aberdeen."