The Spartans saw their Premier Sports Cup exploits come to a conclusion for the season following a 4-0 defeat on the road against John McGlynn’s well organised Premiership side.
A merry band of Spartan Army faithful made the pilgrimage to Grangemouth for the final Group A fixture, with both sides, along with Cove Rangers still in the mix for qualification rights come 4.45pm.
It was the hosts who were to come out of the traps quickly with Paddy Martin having to look sharp, saving early on from a Brian Graham’s header.
Calvin Miller was next to try his luck but the Spartans defence continued to hold the Bairns at bay in what was akin to a siege from the Alamo in terms of wave after wave of Falkirk attack.
There was a temporary respite when the home defence was guilty of some dilly-dally at the back. James Craigen collecting the ball but could only look on in frustrating as his drive towards goal drifted wide as it neared its intended destination.
An attempted clearance at the Falkirk end whizzed past Scott Bain’s far post, offering Spartans a corner and the home support in the South Stand a chance to check their heart rate.
Then, midway through the half, the opener. A corner swung into the Spartans penalty area found Liam Henderson who saw his header blocked, but there was Dylan Tait on hand to poke the ball home from close range.
Spartans weren’t giving this tie up without a fight however and Mark Stowe showed great tenacity to win the ball inside the Falkirk half but could only run into another challenge, as the game hurtled towards half time.
A stop in play saw Sean Welsh leak some claret following an aerial collision, forcing some temporary repairs and a Mr Bump style bandage to get him through til the interval.
HT: Falkirk 1-0 The Spartans
No changes at the interval, save for the covering on Welsh’s head, replaced during the half time debrief.
The double whammy. So often the undoing of many a team during a game, made even tougher to come back from when it is against Premiership opposition.
The Darling of FK2 Scott Arfield with a decent finish in the 52nd minute followed by Calvin Miller’s goal three minutes later left a climb of Mount Everest proportions facing Douglas Samuel’s side to get anything from the tie.
Although at this stage in the game, the best result for the Gaffer just seven days out from the SPFL 2 opener, was likely to see no fresh injuries and a competitive final half hour or so.
Spartans made a triple change on the hour, with Bailey Dall, Kenzi Nair and the ‘who is that guy?’ Trialist coming on for Henderson, Stowe and Booth.
Two opportunities in quick success from the Spartans forced Bain into a brace of saves, first to deny Bradley Whyte who sent in a fierce drive from inside the box, followed up by a low drive from James Craigen who had the keeper scrambling.
With the game entering into the final quarter of an hour, Falkirk added to their total one final time when Alfredo Agyeman’s cross was met by Calvin Miller who bagged his brace.
Another change for the visitors saw Brogan Walls come on for Jamie Dishington and this was shortly followed by Mackie Scott replacing Sean Welsh.
FT: Falkirk 4-0 The Spartans
Report by Mark Brown
