Match Report - By Grant Hood

Brechin City bowed out of this season’s Betfred Cup with a home defeat to group winners Falkirk, as The Bairns merited their seeding in the next round with a 3-0 scoreline in a performance which was as convincing as it was impressive.

Skipper Paul McLean returned to the City line-up after suspension, along with Finn Graham – in a move which saw Aron Lynas and Isaac Layne drop to the substitutes bench.

The game started with Falkirk on the front foot, offloading a few early efforts which failed to trouble ‘Buzz’ in the home goal. A defensive lapse from the visitors saw Ally Love fire a low driven cross from City’s left, but a terrific block from Peter Grant thwarted Andy Jackson just as he was about to pull the trigger.

City’s defensive frailties re-surfaced after 20 minutes resulting in The Bairns opening the scoring, as Willie Dyer mis-judged a header allowing Falkirk wide-man Alex Harris to gather possession. He left Paul McLean sitting on the deck before his concise pass allowed experienced striker LEE MILLER the opportunity to open the scoring. He did.

Willie Dyer redeemed himself shortly after when he cleared a Lee Miller header off the line, and a slightly miscued acrobatic effort from Myles Hippolyte saw the ball fall for Rory Loy whose effort smacked off the outside of the post.

Although the visitors continued to dominate possession, City were by no means out of it, and Finn Graham did exceptionally well at the by-line and his cross was headed goalwards by Ally Love – although it was a comfortable save for David Mitchell in the visitors’ goal.

Falkirk extended their lead early in the second half, as Mark Kerr fed an overlapping Tony Gallacher on the left whose low driven cross was blasted home first time by JOE McKEE from inside the 6-yard box.

Moments later, in a bizarre off-the-ball incident, the visitors’ Aaron Muirhead wrestled Ally Love to the deck as play flowed elsewhere – and the referee, seeing the aftermath rather than the entire incident, saw fit to caution both players.

Finn Graham had a 20-yard shot at goal, which Mitchell failed to hold, and the onrushing Ally Love could only fire the rebound wide and Graham then had another ping at goal from a similar distance as a direct result of substitute Isaac Layne bringing additional physicality to the City front line.

The Bairns scored a third goal when neat interplay from Hippolyte and Kerr created a shooting opportunity for ALEX HARRIS, whose shot from the 18-yard line took a cruel deflection to leave ‘Buzz’ stranded.

Shortly afterwards, the referee incensed the considerable Falkirk support by refusing to award a penalty as former City loanee Scott Shepherd claimed to have been impeded in the box by Ryan McGeever.

Despite the game being well beyond the home side, City continued to press forward when they could, and Layne blasted wide after Finn Graham, Kalvin Orsi and James Dale worked exceptionally hard to keep the attack alive.

The result meant that Falkirk qualified as Group Winners, claiming a seeded position in the draw for the knock-out second round. The final group table would be seen by most as an accurate reflection on each team’s early season form. It was entirely appropriate that a dominant and unbeaten Falkirk side with a 13-1 goal difference progressed, with full-time Inverness Caledonian Thistle probably meriting second place. Surprise package Stirling Albion finished third as a result of victories over both Forfar Athletic and Brechin City, with the Glebe Park side’s penalty shoot-out victory ultimately being the deciding factor as to which of the Angus rivals would finish in the group’s bottom slot.