Match Report
Sunday, 7th April, 2024
by Ben Kearney
Five-star Bairns put on a show as League One champions close in on unbeaten tag
Five-star put on a show against Cove Rangers on Saturday evening as the League One champions chalked up a 5-1 win to make it a whopping 20 goals scored in just four outings.
John McGlynn's relentless title winners are also still chasing an unbeaten league campaign - and they are now just four positive results away from writing themselves into the history books.
The Bairns opened the scoring after just 12 minutes when Coll Donaldson grabbed his third goal of the campaign, directing Calvin Miller's deep cross into the far corner.
It was then two midway through the first half with in-form Callumn Morrison cementing his spot as the SPFL's top marksman. He latched into Brad Spencer's pass and fired into the far bottom corner.
Dominant Falkirk could have been more up by this point, but they did allow Paul Hartley's side back into the match when Josh Kerr's downward header was too powerful for the returning Nicky Hogarth to claw out.
In the second half, the two-goal advantage was quickly restored on 48 minutes through Ross MacIver - and it was one the easiest goals he'll score in his career.
It was a poacher's effort on the goalline, with the striker firing into the roof of the net from Miller's headed pass after Aidan Nesbitt's shot hit the crossbar.
The pick of the bunch came on the hour mark when Hibs loanee Dylan Tait curled home a beauty from the edge of the area, with the impressive midfielder capping off another fine display in Navy Blue.
Substitute Alfredo Agyeman then made it two goals in two off the bench in injury-time, powering home on the angle to cap a five-star Bairns' display as invincibility nears.
"We've scored 22 goals in this quarter and 15 points from 15 so far," assistant manager Paul Smith beamed. “Again today, we are probably disappointed that we didn't score seven or eight goals.
"We're delighted. The conditions were difficult and we were coming off the back of a real high having won the league last weekend, and we know that some teams and players can be affected by that.
"But we were dominant and scored some fantastic goals. Cove set up in a 4-5-1 and put men behind the ball so the first ten minutes wasn't free flowing. Coll (Donaldson) managed to nick the first one for us.
"We grew in confidence and started to knock the ball about well. Callumn Morrison scores with a great finish. The goal was poor to lose and we should have defended it better.
"But after that, Callumn has hit the bar and we should have come in four or five up at the break."