In an absolutely enthralling hum-dinger of a match Falkirk withstood a second half determined rally to deservedly take the spoils at Duffus Park Cupar last weekend over championship contenders Howe of Fife. Prior to the commencement of the fixture,with his father watching from the stand and his son on the bench,one minute's silence was respectfully and movingly observed for former Falkirk Captain Douglas 'Dougie' McCulloch,who so tragically passed away on the 22nd February after a long illness,aged just 49 years old,and had been a regular spectator at most of Falkirk's matches till very recently,and his presence will be very sorely missed indeed. Getting off to a bright start Falkirk most certainly made their intent crystal clear in taking play to their rivals,but slightly against the run of play H.o.F. seized possession,and after Outside-Centre Angus Guthrie broke through some weak Falkirk tackles Scrum-Half Stewart Lathangie crashed over in the corner from the ensuing ruck for an unconverted try in the 11th minute. However Falkirk bounced back just two minutes later when slick handling from the backs,from just inside the Fifers' half,saw Benji Cottle make a half break and power his way through unopposed for another awesome try,which Logan Bonar duly converted. Maintaining their pressure,two minutes into the second quarter,Falkirk then won a scrum about 15 metres out from Howe's line and Harry Russell and Benji Cottle both handled before Graham Gilliland raced over near the corner for a well worked try. Nevertheless H.o.F. retaliated not long afterwards when Guthrie made another powerful break for the line, only to be grounded just short with a last ditch tackle,but Flanker Iain Wilson snapped up the loose ball and barged over for the touchdown. Reacting positively Falkirk then fought their back into the Fifers' 22 metre area with Bonar making a neat break before putting in an inch perfect chip-kick to the corner for Graham Lindsay to pounce on the ball for the visitors' third try in the32nd minute. Undaunted the Duffus Park side came roaring back at Falkirk, but just as they were looking dangerous Lindsay intercepted the ball deep inside his own 22 metre area and stormed away before transferring to Jacob Adamson,who in turn made good ground before sending Harry Russell in under the posts for Falkirk's bonus point awarding try which Bonar presently converted for a Half-Time score of Howe of Fife 10 Falkirk 24. Bonar extended his side's lead with a converted penalty seven minutes into the second period of play but H.o.F. retaliated strongly when Iain Wilson crashed over from a ruck under Falkirk's uprights in the 54th minute,only for Bonar to counter with a further penalty conversion just four minutes later. Ominously though the Fifers came charging back,and put the cat amongst the pigeons,with a further try in the 67th minute from fellow flanker James Lawrie with Stand-Off Dom Martin converting both tries. Surviving a very tense and frenetic closing ten minute spell Falkirk emerged as worthy winners although they had to look lively in defence at times. Falkirk Team 1.Lewis Skinner 2.Andrew Simpson 3.Keith Slade 4.Cole Ronald 5.Craig Hamilton 6.Lawrence Miller 7.Angus Inwood 8.Craig Varcoe 9.Harry Russell[Capt.] 10.Logan Bonar 11.Gary Dempsey 12.Graham Gilliland 13.Benji Cottle 14.Graham Lindsay 15.Jacob Adamson. Subs. 16.Kris Burney 17.Tom Johnson 18.Stewart McCulloch 19.Robbie Hogg. This Week Falkirk are on the road again when they travel to the Granite City to take on Aberdeenshire,Kick-Off is at 3.00 p.m.