After a defeat in the League Cup last weekend to Dundee United, Coach Wilson was looking for a positive response from his players as they travelled to Fife for this vital league clash with Cowdenbeath Ladies.

A familiar look for the ladies today saw then shape up in a 3-4-3 formation.

The match started brightly for the Bairns as they forced 2 corners in the opening minutes of the game. In fact the score line was almost broken for Falkirk, 2 min, by the home side as their centre half managed to crack her own cross bar while attempting a clearance.

On 7 min Ashley McDonald used her pace and direct style to reach the by-line and her cross was met by Roy Houston who fired over the bar. With Falkirk in the ascendance it seemed like a matter of time before the deadlock was broken. A corner from the left, 16 min, was fired in from Shirley Martin however the danger was cleared.

A delightful cross from McDonald after 23 min found Kate Sheppard at the back post but her mis-control allowed the ball to drift out and the chance was gone. Shirley Martin was starting to see a lot of the ball at this point, 26 min, and her excellent cross fell at the feet of Alana Marshall however similar to Kate “JJ” Sheppard before her, a lack of control saw the ball drift out.

On 30 min Cowdenbeath managed there 1st attempt on goal as they were awarded a direct free kick. However the resulting shot was high and wide from keeper Renny’s goal. The traffic was flowing constantly towards the ‘Beath’ goal and a slice of luck saw the opening goal for Falkirk.

The ball was played into the penalty area, 35 min, and struck the arm of one of the home defenders. The referee pointed to the spot straight away. Shirley Martin dispatched the ball past the keeper to give the Bairns the lead
(0-1).

With the first half coming to a close and the Bairns seemingly in easy street a moment of madness was to draw the score level. A long ball forward, 43 min, saw Becky Robertson needlessly give away a free-kick some 25 yards from goal.

As the striker fired a hopeful shot towards the goal, Keeper Renny somehow made no attempt to play the ball and it nestled in the back of the net, much to Coach Wilson’s annoyance (1-1).

Half-Time:
Cowdenbeath Ladies (1) V (1) Falkirk.

The balance of play in the first period was no refection on the score line as it had been all Falkirk possession but unfortunately they could not convert that pressure into goals. Also a moment of madness had allowed Cowdenbeath the opportunity to get back on level terms.

As the 2nd period got underway Roy Houston and Arlene Livingstone combined well at a Falkirk corner, 47 min, and Arlene’s resulting shot was tipped over the bar by the home keeper. The Bairns took the lead again after 48 min as Alana Marshall found space inside the penalty area to steer the ball past the home keeper to restore the goal advantage (1-2).

This was the perfect platform for the Bairns to press on and put the game to bed with a killer 3rd goal. However there was still time for the players to press the self destruct button and on 57 min they did. The defensive line allowed the Cowdenbeath striker to run direct at them and as she entered the penalty area, Jennifer Dick clumsily clipped the heal of the striker and down she went – penalty (2-2).

The first of two nasty injuries for the Falkirk side saw Kate Sheppard fall to the ground in a heep after 62 min with what looked like a bad ankle injury. Kate was replaced by Natalie Stewart. Just as the game re-started and the girls re-grouped, skipper Clare Harris seemed to catch her boot in the turf and she crumbled in agony to the floor. Trialist, Emma Lyons replaced Clare after 65 min.

The Bairns kept pressing for the 3rd goal and their cause was helped with 15 minutes to go as a through ball set the pacey Alana Marshall towards goal. There was no real requirement for the home keeper to come racing from her goal, however she did nothing more than take Alana rather than the ball and she was issued with a straight red card.

Could the Falkirk side break through with the extra man advantage as Cowdenbeath had switched to playing with only 1 up-front? After getting away with the penalty decision, Jennifer Dick found herself in the referee’s book as a result of a late challenge, 83 min. In an attempt to freshen things up for the final minutes, Laura Yuill was replaced with a 2nd trialist, Nicole Letford.

After some neat work down the right from Nicole Letford, 87 min, the ball found its way inside the penalty area. As the home defence tried to clear their lines, the ball broke to Natalie Stewart and she managed to steer a shot past the diving replacement keeper (2-3).

Coach Wilson had barley finished writing in his note book, 89 min, when Roy Houston advanced into the penalty area and finished the game as a contest with a neat shot (2-4).

Full-Time:
Cowdenbeath Ladies (2) V (4) Falkirk.

Coach Wilson Commented: We made this victory very hard work and really should have killed it off as a contest much earlier than we did.

It was pleasing to see the squad compete until the 90th minute as the home side were tiring some what.

To lose the services of both Kate ‘JJ’ Sheppard and Skipper Harris was a sore one to take as I fear they may be out for a few weeks. Both are key players and hopefully they will be back in the action soon.

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