Scottish League One: Three things we learned as Falkirk revive promotion hopes
In another weekend of League One drama, let’s look at the three talking points…
Bairns ease past Citizens to get promotion aspirations back on track
Falkirk 2-0 Edinburgh
Second-half goals from Lawal Oluwasegun and Leon McCann in the 53rd and 84th minute ensured Falkirk would seal the three points in a 2-0 win over Edinburgh at The Falkirk Stadium.
The victory for the Bairns means they climb to the dizzy heights of second at the expense of Alan Maybury’s men, who slipped out of the top two positions for the first time since September.
John McGlynn’s charges will be hoping to build upon this result and further demonstrate their promotion credentials amid a slightly erratic form of late. The Bairns are on the road to Hamilton next week as they visit second-bottom Clyde, who they will see as the ideal opponents to gain back-to-back wins for the first time since early October.
Meanwhile, the capital side have succumbed to consecutive league defeats for the first time this season and have dropped to the lowly position of fifth. They will vie to return to winning ways next weekend when they welcome Alloa Athletic to Meadowbank.
Falkirk manager, John McGlynn said: “Very nice to win. Edinburgh came here with a gameplan to frustrate and sit deep, they were difficult to break down. So, enormous credit to the players, they showed big character against a team who were second in the league. It was difficult and I’m delighted with the two excellent goals.”
Edinburgh manager, Alan Maybury said: “Tactically we were quite good, the boys worked their socks off and we limited them [Falkirk] to very little, especially the first half. We can pass the ball a little bit better, but we are trying to go after teams and not sit in. We just needed that little more quality, but we didn’t do enough to open them up.”
League leaders overturn two-goal deficit to deny Duffy a perfect return
Dunfermline Athletic 2-2 Clyde
Two spot-kicks from Kyle Benedictus in the 65th and 88th minute respectively cancelled out Jordan Allan’s first-half brace as Jim Duffy was denied victory in his first match since returning as Clyde manager in a 2-2 draw with Dunfermline at East End Park.
The share of the spoils means the Pars’ lead at the summit was cut to five points, while the Bully Wee arrested their run of 11 consecutive league defeats, albeit remaining only a point above basement club Peterhead.
63-year-old Duffy, who was announced as Danny Lennon’s successor on Monday evening has returned for a second stint in the Bully Wee hotseat, eight years since departing to join Greenock Morton. The former Dundee and Dumbarton gaffer will hope halting their losing streak will deliver a confidence boost to his squad ahead of his second home debut against Falkirk next Saturday.
Whereas, the Pars, who have ensured their unbeaten home record remains intact will aim to avoid dropping more points when they travel to face Peterhead at Balmoor next weekend.
Dunfermline Athletic manager, James McPake said: “Credit to Clyde and credit to Jim Duffy, they’ll be disappointed having went two goals up and deservedly so. We conceded two ridiculous poor goals. We weren’t near the level of performance those boys have set, we were poor and Clyde were the better team.”
Clyde manager, Jim Duffy said: “I’m not overly disappointed, we were playing the team who are top of the league away from home, so, if you get a point, you can’t be too disappointed. I understand that we were 2-0 up, but we had to work very hard for those goals. From our point of view, all you can do is ask the players to be competitive as they can and I think that was the case.”
Five-star Alloa relish in six-goal thriller as Queen’s suffer embarrassing collapse
Alloa Athletic 5-1 Queen of the South
Alloa sneaked their way back into the promotion play-offs with a resounding demolition of Queen of the South at the Indodrill Stadium.
However, it was the visitors who opened the scoring through Gavin Reilly in the second minute until Ross MacIver brought the Wasps level seconds before the interval. The Doonhamers then conceded three goals in quick succession as Daniel Church, George Stanger and Kieran Offord hit the target in the 62nd, 65th and 67th minute to put the result beyond doubt. Adam King then completed the rout with six minutes remaining as the home side returned to winning ways in incredible fashion.
Brian Rice’s charges have only lost twice in their last nine matches and are also four games unbeaten as they continue their flirtation at the top end of the table. Not many would have considered the Wasps as potential contenders for promotion and they will seek to strengthen their case when they face Edinburgh in the capital next Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Dumfries club remain seventh and continue their struggle to string together a positive set of results. They haven’t found it easy to push into the play-off places, which hasn’t been unnoticed by a support who have become irritatated with their club’s inconsistent results. Willie Gibson’s men are back at Palmerston next week where they will welcome third-place Montrose.
Alloa Athletic manager, Brian Rice said: “We lost the goal in the second minute as we didn’t defend the cross. I felt we grew into the first half as it went on and we got that perfect boost going into half-time. Second half we were absolutely fantastic, scored good goals and once again the subs came on and contributed.”
Queen of the South player-manager, Willie Gibson said: “When they [Alloa] scored just before half-time, it felt like a sucker punch. We went into half-time thinking we could take the lead again and what happened was a complete embarrassment. You know, conceding three goals in five minutes, it’s simply not good enough, I’m very angry.”
Results:
Airdrieonians 1-1 Peterhead
Kelty Hearts 1-3 Montrose
Scottish League One Table: As It Stands