Mar 9

A combination of handling errors and an unlucky bounce of the ball saw Falkirk go down to a very disappointing narrow defeat at the Woodside Sports Complex last weekend,failing to take advantage of their first half lead with a scoreless second period. Admittedly Falkirk were without Keith Slade,Craig Varcoe and Graham Gilliland due to injuries sustained in the previous week's attritional match against Howe of Fife and lost the services of both Robbie Hogg,due to a knee injury,and Graeme Simpson who was knocked out after a courageous tackle on Shire's giant South African Outside-Centre Wiaan Griebenow during the course of the Granite City encounter. Drawing first blood 'Shire took an early 7th minute lead when Stand-Off Adam Blake broke blind from a five metre ruck for an unconverted try,following a powerful rolling maul from a lineout,but Logan Bonar countered for Falkirk with a converted penalty just four minutes later. Struggling somewhat in the tight forward exchanges Falkirk eventually found their rhythm during the closing ten minute period of the half and took the lead in the 42nd minute when Scrum-Half Harry Russell scampered through from a five metre ruck for a welcome try which Bonar presently converted for a Half-Time score of Aberdeenshire 5 Falkirk 10. Without throwing up any excuses at all Falkirk had the sun in their eyes for the whole of the second period of play and 'Shire took full advantage of it,with frequent airial bombardment. Unfortunately,to Falkirk's chagrin,they then lost possession of the ball on mid-field in the course of a promising attack and 'Shire wasted no time in kicking to the corner of the pitch only for the ball to bounce inside into the open arms of Left-Winger Michael MacLugash,who then sped in for an opportunist unconverted try in the 56th minute. Without allowing Falkirk any time to recover,and before they knew what hit them,further pressure saw the visitors spill the ball under their posts and Right-Winger Sean Murchie snapped up the loose ball and cantered over under the uprights for another sickener of a try as far as Falkirk was concerned,with Adam Blake duly adding the conversion. Mounting a last ditch all out effort to salvage the game Falkirk failed to break down the home side's stuffy defence,and at the end of the day all they had to show was a losing bonus point. Falkirk Team 1.Kris Burney 2.Tom Johnson 3.Lewis Skinner 4.Cole Ronald 5.Craig Hamilton 6.Stewart McCulloch 7.Angus Inwood 8.Lawrence Miller 9.Harry Russell[Capt.] 10.Logan Bonar 11.Gary Dempsey 12.Robbie Hogg. 13.Benji Cottle 14.Graham Lindsay 15.Jacob Adamson. Subs.16.Andrew Simpson 17.Graeme Simpson 18.Andrew Gillespie 19.Ciaran Wood.